Require Police to Get a Warrant to Search ALPR Data

Automated license plate readers (ALPRs) photograph every passing vehicle and compile searchable logs of where and when people travel, creating pervasive location databases. The core argument is that police should need a judicial warrant before searching stored ALPR data because warrants require probable cause and particularity, preventing fishing expeditions and providing an independent check on law enforcement. Without that check, officers have unfettered access to sensitive movement records; a federal judge in Oklahoma recently agreed that such protections are warranted.

Concrete examples show the scale and abuse: San Jose police ran 261,711 ALPR searches in about a year (roughly 692 per day), and investigators documented searches used to profile Romani communities (e.g., repeated “g psy” queries), monitor protesters, investigate an abortion by sweeping 83,000 cameras across states, assist immigration enforcement via hotlists, retaliate against a critic with 100+ searches, and stalk romantic partners (one officer allegedly ran 10,000+ queries; another tracked a woman nearly 180 times). Officers even logged reasons like “LMAO” or “idk.” The recommended remedy is to end mass ALPR programs; where systems remain, require warrants for both historical searches and adding individuals to real-time “hotlists,” while preserving narrow emergency exceptions.