CHARLOTTE — A new North Carolina budget provision has made a pilot program for license plate reading cameras permanent on state highways and maintained roads.
The State Bureau of Investigation will now be able to enter into agreements to place these cameras, which have been in operation since 2024.
The cameras, referred to as Automatic License Plate Readers or ALPRs, are considered valuable by law enforcement for solving crimes and locating missing persons.
During the pilot phase, 32 law enforcement agencies participated, and more than 3 million license plates were read on state highways in Cabarrus County alone.
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Daniel Redford, President of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Fraternal Order of Police, emphasized the importance of these devices for law enforcement. “These cameras are valuable. Law enforcement relies on them,” Redford said.
Redford also stated that the cameras have proven very valuable when used with proper oversight.
“With the right parameters and good policies from law enforcement agencies that restrict how these cameras can be used, they have been very valuable,” Redford said.
The pilot program, which started in 2024, involved numerous agencies, including the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, Gaston County Police, the Iredell County Sheriff’s Office, UNC Charlotte Police and the Cabarrus County Sheriff’s Office.
The program is now open to all law enforcement agencies across the state.
In April, the SBI released a report to the State Legislature detailing the pilot program, highlighting its successes, such as assisting in the capture of a vehicle from Charlotte suspected of drug trafficking.
The SBI stated that no data from the pilot program was stored after 90 days.
Despite the reported positives, groups like the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina have expressed concerns about potential mission creep, fearing the cameras could expand beyond their original purpose and store additional data.
Charlotte resident Thomas Hinkle acknowledged the public’s apprehension. “I think there is definitely, with any kind of technology, there is a little room for a little healthy suspicion and a little critique of it. But I mean it’s also inevitable. I mean, it’s going to happen,” Hinkle said.
The new budget provision requires each participating agency to write a policy governing how the cameras can be used.