Automated license plate readers: A helpful tool for law enforcement or an infringement of people's rights?

Some say giving the Albuquerque Police Department more time to store drivers’ information from automated license plate readers will help it fight crime more effectively. Others think it is an invasion of privacy.

On Dec. 4, the Albuquerque City Council adopted a resolution sponsored by Councilor Renee Grout to allow APD to keep the data gathered by the readers — known as ALPR — for a year. Previously, the department had to purge it after two weeks.

Each reader captures and cross-references license plates and compares them with video footage from incidents, according to Genetec, one of the city’s ALPR vendors.

It can take months for APD to identify suspects or suspect vehicles, Grout said in an email, adding that “under the two-week restriction, APD was purging evidence before they even knew it was evidence.”

APD Deputy Chief J.J. Griego said the city decided that a year is enough time because it represents a balance between being able to solve a crime and respecting people’s privacy concerns.

He said the 70 to 80 license plate readers used by the city are moved around as needed but mainly located on busy streets like Central Avenue, where “we can capture” the most traffic, Griego said. He added that the only times readers will be used off the major thoroughfares is if they have to be deployed in high-crime areas.

APD acknowledged the role a license plate reader played in helping find suspected rapist Nathanael Huburt last week. The reader not only enabled APD to identify the suspect, but locate the vehicle he was driving, Griego said.

Albuquerque is far from the only city to use license plate readers. Comparably sized places like Tucson are using them as well.

The Tucson Police Department uses three readers, spokesman Sgt. Richard Gradillas said in an email. Any information from them can be stored for up to a year.

Gradillas said, however, because Tucson police use only a few readers, their impact on the community has been minimal. But he said Tucson is hoping to add 50 more next year.

“We do believe that this is a useful tool to have, and (we) look forward to having more in the field to get a real feel for the impact,” he said.

‘My larger concern’

Not everyone in the city of Albuquerque is a fan of allowing APD to keep people’s license plate information for a lengthy period of time.

City Council President Pat Davis was one of two councilors (Tammy Fiebelkorn was the other) to vote against Grout’s resolution because, he said, one year is too much time to have someone’s information.

“But my larger concern is that most residents don’t know the amount of data APD collects and the reach of the city’s camera and tracking networks in general,” Davis said. “This law sets the city’s first standard for retention of data like this, so I worry how much and how long we will be keeping facial recognition, CCTV (closed-circuit television), APD drone footage and more in the future.

“In short, I think this was rushed to pass by the end of the year and it should have involved a much more deliberate and thoughtful process.”

American Civil Liberties Union policing policy advocate Daniel Williams said while there should be a balance between giving law enforcement the proper tools to keep people safe and maintaining someone’s privacy, APD’s new yearlong retention policy is “far outside that balance.”

On the other hand, Grout said that because license plates can be publicly seen, “no one should have an expectation of privacy when it comes to anything that’s on the exterior of a car on a public street.”

At the most recent council meeting, Griego said there are parameters in place to ensure that only pertinent information is used during an investigation.

The information is requested through the Real Time Crime Center where the officer provides a case number for lawful purposes, he said, adding that “they need a legitimate (reason) to get that info.”

APD will be requesting additional funding from the state to buy more license plate readers, Griego said, but “we don’t have a number on it, yet.”