Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) - Adoption, Use, and Data Retention Policies (North Attleborough Town Clerk)

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

Please also provide any and all relevant:

• Contracts, including amendments and exhibits
• Purchase orders and invoices

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

3. Databases used to compare or analyze 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

Please also provide
• The aggregate number of “detections” (i.e. license plate scans and associated data) collected during 2016.
• The aggregate number of detections collected during 2017.
• The aggregate number of detections collected during 2018.
• The aggregate number of “hits” (i.e. times that a plate on a hotlist was detected) during 2016.
• The aggregate number of “hits” during 2017.
• The aggregate number of “hits” during 2018.

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, including:

• The names of agencies and organizations with which the Agency shares ALPR data;
• The names of agencies and organizations from which the Agency receives ALPR data;
• The names of agencies and organizations with which the Agency shares “hot list” information;
• The names of agencies and organizations from which the Agency receives “hot list” information

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,

Beryl Lipton

To Whom It May Concern:

This is an appeal of a response by the North Attleboro Police Department to a request filed under the Massachusetts Public Records Law.

In a response to my request, which you can find copied below, the police department wrote, "Following a diligent review of your request and its records, please be advised that the Police Department does not have any records responsive to your request."

However, I do not believe a diligent search was conducted for the requested materials. For example, an article in The Sun Chronicle titled "In post 9/11 world, sharing is key" and dated September 10, 2011 (https://www.thesunchronicle.com/news/in-post-world-sharing-is-key/article_2688f812-3faa-5f92-8c46-d4b5be688994.html) states "In North Attleboro, a police cruiser is equipped with an automatic license plate reader with a computer that tracks tens of thousands of license plates in a single 8-hour shift." I believe that even if the police department has since stopped using automated license plate readers, there would be some material retained from the period in which it was in use. I do not believe that the police department has stopped using such technology, and if the agency is accessing the technology through a shared system, materials related to that joint effort should have been provided as responsive.

I understand that this current appeal is outside the 90-day appeal period. However, when I resubmitted this request on September 10, 2019 (https://www.muckrock.com/foi/north-attleborough-605/automated-license-plate-reader-alpr-adoption-use-and-data-retention-policies-north-attleboro-police-department-76046/), I was resent the response from July, so I hope you will direct me how best to respond in order to receive a determination on this appeal of this rejection.

Thank you very much for your time and help.

Best wishes,
Beryl Lipton