Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) - Adoption, Use, and Data Retention Policies (Townsend Police Department)

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, I hereby request the following records:

Materials related to this agency's acquisition of, access to, preservation of, or disclosure of automated license plate readers (ALPR) or ALPR data:

1. Policies related to the adoption of ALPR technology, including those guiding the procurement process or necessary administrative obligations before acquisition.

2. Training policies, requirements, and materials for automatic license plate reader system operators.

3. Databases used to compare data obtained by the automatic license plate reader system.

4. Policies related to the retention and security of captured ALPR data, including those regarding:
- the length of time after capture that data may be preserved
- exceptions to general data preservation policies
- internal data security and access
- data destruction

5. Policies related to the sharing of captured ALPR data by this agency with other agencies, including those directing:
- the manner in which another agency may request data
- the circumstances under which captured data may be shared, and
- the responsibilities of the recipient agency in regards to data retention and use.
- access by this agency to data obtained by automatic license plate reader systems not operated by the law enforcement agency.

Please also provide the number of requests made by outside agencies, if applicable.

6. Policies related to the sale of data or the sharing of data with non-law enforcement actors.
- If applicable, please provide all agreements between this agency and non-law enforcement actors.

7. Policies regarding oversight of automatic license plate reader system use.

8. Audit Reports

9. Policies related to maintenance and calibration.

Please also provide maintenance and calibration schedules and records for the system on file.

10. Any other policies or reports on subjects related to automatic license plate reader system use by the agency.

I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as we believe this request is in the public interest, as suggested but not stipulated by the recommendations of the Massachusetts Supervisor of Public Records. The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, processed by a representative of the news media/press and is made in the process of news gathering and not for commercial usage.

I expect the request to be filled in an accessible format, including for screen readers, which provide text-to-speech for persons unable to read print. Files that are not accessible to screen readers include, for example, .pdf image files as well as physical documents.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Dave Maass