Provo police join statewide agreement to share license plate reader data

The Provo Police Department has signed on to a statewide memorandum of understanding that lets Utah law enforcement agencies share automatic license plate reader data for authorized police purposes, the city said in an Oct. 15 notice about the agreement with the Utah Department of Public Safety. ^[1]

Plate readers photograph passing vehicles and check them against lists tied to active criminal investigations, missing persons, Amber Alerts, outstanding warrants and stolen vehicles. The agreement sets the rules for how participating agencies may share that data with one another under Utah law. ^[1]

The city said the agreement lets officers search plate reader information collected by other agencies when looking for a stolen vehicle, a missing or endangered person, a vehicle tied to a warrant, or in an active criminal investigation. ^[1]

Provo police decide how the department uses its own plate readers and data under state law, department policy and the agreement, the city said, but Provo does not control where other agencies put their cameras or how they handle the data they collect. Many plate reader systems in Utah belong to state, county and other city agencies. ^[1]

The city said residents have raised concerns about plate reader cameras, sometimes called Flock cameras, around the community. It said the agreement does not approve any specific camera, does not expand police authority beyond state law, and requires agencies to use shared data only for authorized law enforcement purposes. ^[1]

The city's notice links to the signed agreement, the department's plate reader policy and its usage statistics. The police department takes questions at 801-852-6210. ^[1]