Missouri Issues New Statewide Guidelines for Flock and License Plate Reader Cameras

Missouri Issues New Statewide Guidelines for Flock and License Plate Reader Cameras

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri law enforcement agencies now have new statewide guidance governing the use of automated license plate reader technology, including the cameras commonly known as Flock cameras.

The Missouri Department of Public Safety released a 10-page guidance document Wednesday, Sept. 30, outlining recommended practices for how law enforcement agencies should search, store, verify and audit information collected through Automated License Plate Reader systems, or ALPRs. (Business Times Missouri)

The guidance follows Executive Order 26-18, signed by Gov. Mike Kehoe on Sept. 16. The order directed DPS to develop statewide safeguards after growing concerns over privacy, data retention and documented cases of ALPR systems being misused. (Missouri Secretary of State)

The new guidance does not eliminate Flock or other license plate reader systems. Instead, the state is attempting to establish limits on how the technology can be used while allowing law enforcement to continue using it for criminal investigations and lifesaving situations.

Among the major guidelines released by DPS:

Every ALPR search should have a legitimate law enforcement purpose.Agencies should maintain individual accountability for everyone who has access to ALPR information.Officers should independently verify an ALPR alert before making a traffic stop or taking other enforcement action.Most license plate and vehicle information should be permanently deleted within 30 days.Agencies should conduct routine audits of ALPR use at least monthly, along with targeted reviews when necessary.ALPR systems should not be integrated with artificial intelligence facial recognition technology. (Business Times Missouri)

Kehoe’s executive order goes further in several areas.

For agencies covered by the order, every ALPR query must record the identity of the person conducting the search along with a valid case number or specific law enforcement justification.

Personal use, stalking or unauthorized sharing of ALPR information can trigger disciplinary proceedings, possible criminal referral and a report to the Missouri Department of Public Safety for potential action against an officer’s license. Unauthorized additions to ALPR “hot lists” are subject to similar consequences. (Missouri Secretary of State)

The order also establishes that ALPR data collected by covered Missouri government agencies belongs to that government agency. Vendors are prohibited from accessing, selling, sharing, commercializing or using Missouri-generated information for non-law-enforcement purposes. (Missouri Secretary of State)

What does the 30-day rule actually mean?

Under the governor’s order, captured license plate and vehicle images generally must be permanently deleted within 30 days.

There are exceptions.

Information can be kept longer when it is directly connected to a specific active criminal investigation, an active life-safety emergency such as an Amber Alert or Silver Alert, or when retention is required by a court order. (Missouri Secretary of State)

That distinction is important. The state is not requiring evidence connected to an active investigation to disappear after 30 days. The limit primarily addresses the routine collection of vehicle information that has not become part of an investigation.

What does this mean for Lebanon?

Lebanon has already been having its own discussion about ALPR technology.

The Lebanon Police Department uses multiple camera systems, including Flock, Axon and, until recently, Genetec.

Following Kehoe’s Sept. 16 executive order, Lebanon Police disabled its Genetec system. According to the city’s transparency page, the system is currently no longer accessible. (Lebanon, MO Official Website)

Lebanon Police has also been conducting monthly audits of its ALPR systems since February and has now made those reports public.

Those reports show the difference between a vehicle being automatically “read” by a camera and an officer actually searching the database.

For example, the city’s June audit reported more than 3.3 million Genetec camera reads while officers conducted 359 searches through Flock and 108 through Axon. In August, Genetec recorded 763,078 reads while officers conducted 298 Flock searches and nine Axon searches. (Lebanon, MO Official Website)

Lebanon’s proposed local ALPR ordinance also contains several provisions similar to the new state standards, including a 30-day retention limit, restrictions on general surveillance, limitations on data sharing and requirements for documenting ALPR use. The city’s website currently lists that ordinance as proposed and not yet adopted. (Lebanon, MO Official Website)

These are not necessarily the final rules

The governor’s executive order is intended to serve as an interim framework while Missouri lawmakers consider permanent legislation.

Kehoe directed DPS to work with the Missouri Police Chiefs Association, Missouri Sheriffs Association, Fraternal Order of Police, Missouri State Highway Patrol, Missouri Association of Prosecuting Attorneys and others to develop proposed legislation for the upcoming session. (Missouri Secretary of State)

That proposal is expected to address the current safeguards, auditing requirements, penalties for misuse and potentially the withholding of state grant money from agencies that fail to comply with applicable ALPR standards.

DPS Director Mark James said discussions on that legislation will take place before the upcoming legislative session. (Business Times Missouri)

Kehoe has said ALPR technology has proven valuable for law enforcement, particularly in recovering stolen vehicles, locating missing people and developing leads in serious crimes, but that its use must be balanced against the privacy rights of Missourians.

“The government should not be building a permanent record of where law-abiding Missourians go, who they visit, or how they live their daily lives,” Kehoe said when signing the executive order. (Governor Mike Kehoe)

For Lebanon, many of the concepts now being recommended statewide are already part of the local conversation: limited retention, documented searches, regular audits and public reporting.

The difference now is that the discussion is no longer happening only at Lebanon City Hall.

Missouri is working toward a statewide framework for how this technology can be used, what information can be kept and what happens when someone abuses access to it.