An ALPR combines a camera with software that reads the license plate of a passing vehicle.

The system converts the plate characters into searchable data and records when and where the vehicle was observed.

ALPRs may be mounted on law enforcement vehicles or installed at fixed locations. They are investigative tools, not traffic-safety cameras, and they do not automatically issue citations.

Data Access

Direct access is limited to authorized EPPD personnel who must be approved by the police chief or the chief’s designee, and may access the information only for a legitimate, specified and documented law enforcement purpose.

Access must be based on a reasonable suspicion that the information is pertinent to an active criminal investigation. Each access is recorded so it can be reviewed and audited.

Data Protection

EPPD stores ALPR information in a secure, password-protected system. Access is limited according to an employee’s authorized duties, role and training.

EPPD’s security and accountability measures include:

• Written authorization for personnel who are permitted to access ALPR data
• Role-based access that limits what each authorized user can view or do
• A documented factual basis for each access
• A case number, complaint, incident or other documented basis associated with the access
• An audit trail recording queries, results, access, updates, sharing and disclosures
• Department discipline and potential criminal penalties for unauthorized access or use

Data Retention

ALPR data that is not related to an active criminal investigation must be destroyed no later than 60 days after it is collected.

Data connected to an active criminal investigation, or data that must be preserved under another provision of law, may be retained longer. Investigative information is handled according to applicable state law and records-retention requirements.

ALPR information is generally classified as private or nonpublic data under Minnesota law, subject to limited exceptions established by law.

EPPD uses ALPR information in two primary ways.

Real-Time Alerts

A plate read may be compared with authorized law enforcement information, such as the Minnesota license plate data file or a hot list associated with an active investigation. If there is a possible match, the system sends an alert for an officer to review.

Investigative Searches

Authorized personnel may search previously collected plate data when there is a documented law enforcement need and a reasonable basis to believe the information is pertinent to an active criminal investigation.

EPPD’s system requires investigative searches to include a case number and reason. Each search is recorded in an audit trail.

Use Examples

ALPR information has helped EPPD officers:

• Recover stolen vehicles
• Find missing people, including vulnerable adults
• Locate people in crisis or otherwise in need of a welfare check
• Identify vehicles associated with people wanted in connection with violent felony offenses, including assaults, shootings and robberies

Minnesota law prohibits using ALPRs to monitor or track a person who is the subject of an active criminal investigation unless the use is authorized by a warrant or justified by exigent circumstances.

Minnesota law limits ALPR collection to:

• The vehicle’s license plate number
• The date, time and location of the observation
• Images of the license plate, vehicle and area surrounding the vehicle

An ALPR read is associated with a vehicle and license plate. It does not determine who is driving the vehicle.
ALPRs may record vehicles that are not associated with suspected criminal activity. A plate read by itself does not indicate that the vehicle or its occupants are involved in a crime.

Other local, state and federal law enforcement agencies do not have direct or automatic access to data collected by EPPD’s ALPRs.

EPPD does not proactively share its locally collected ALPR data with outside agencies.

• An outside law enforcement agency may submit an individual, case-specific request
• The request must be connected to a criminal investigation and include a case number and documented purpose
• EPPD staff review the request and determine whether the information may lawfully be released

Motorola cannot independently release EPPD’s data to another agency. EPPD controls whether its locally collected information is released.

ALPR information may also be disclosed to prosecutors or as required by a court order or other applicable legal process.

These controls apply specifically to data collected by EPPD’s ALPRs. Information obtained from another law enforcement agency or another lawful source as part of an investigation is governed by applicable law and the conditions placed on that information by its source.

Minnesota law requires law enforcement agencies that use ALPRs to maintain public records about their use, including:

• The periods during which ALPRs collected data
• The aggregate number of plate reads
• The databases used for comparisons
• Categories of alerts generated
• The locations of fixed ALPRs, unless a specific location is lawfully classified as security information

Minnesota law also requires an independent audit every two years. EPPD’s most recent audit, completed by LOGIS in July 2025, found no exceptions in the controls tested and concluded that EPPD’s ALPR program complied with Minnesota Statutes, section 13.824.

A possible match generates an alert for an officer to review.

An ALPR alert is an investigative lead; it is not proof that a crime has occurred or that the current driver is involved.

Before taking enforcement action, an officer must:

1. Confirm the license plate was read correctly.
2. Independently verify the underlying law enforcement information is accurate and still active through the state’s real-time system, Dispatch or the source that generated the alert.
3. Evaluate the circumstances and determine what action, if any, is appropriate.

Enforcement action is not taken solely because an ALPR generated an alert. The ALPR system itself does not stop a vehicle, make an arrest or issue a citation.