The Lebanon City Council has given preliminary approval to a city law governing the use of Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) in the city.
The proposed ordinance received first reading approval at a council meeting on Tuesday of last week and will come back to the council for one more vote before it becomes official.
Speaking at the council meeting, Lebanon Police Chief Jerry Harrison said the ordinance would specify how the department operates its camera networks, including systems provided by the controversial vendor Flock Safety, following six years of local ALPR usage.
"This is us enshrining our conduct in law," Chief Harrison told the council. "To me, this is just a commitment to the community, and that’s the most important part... in the way that we intend to use the ALPRs as the community has entrusted us to."
Harrison reported that the police department is already in compliance with the requirements outlined in the draft ordinance, as well as Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe’s recent executive order on ALPRs.
He said the department has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Laclede County Sheriff’s Office to conduct monthly external audits. Harrison noted that all internal data audits are currently up to date through Sept. 30 and are available to the public on the police department's website, https://www.lebanonmissouri.org/646/Police.
Addressing online speculation regarding data security, Harrison said that the system's deletion processes are fully automated.
"System engineers cannot restore any deleted data," he said, adding that there have been no confirmed cyber breaches or hacks of the system.
The ordinance was recently updated to match requirements that every ALPR search be logged by user, purpose, and case number. Harrison revealed that an older, generic system used by the department for more than five years lacked this capability and was shut off by the city's IT director due to non-compliance.
To prevent data misuse, he said police leadership reviews an automated audit assistance tool every day. The software is designed to flag unusual search behavior and automatically lock out users when red flags are detected, though Harrison noted the lockout feature is still being fully rolled out by the vendor.
"We are not waiting for an audit to come back and tell us there’s a problem," Harrison said. "We're proactively paying attention to what's going on."
While the department currently retains information for 30 days, Harrison said his preference is to reduce the window to Flock’s current default of seven days.
Harrison said that while the majority of the department's cases involve data less than seven days old, unique or severe crimes can defy standard statistics. He said that the system can be changed to meet what he public wants and that the department will respect the council's ultimate decision.
While strongly supporting the use of ALPRs, Harrison also acknowledged the technology's limits.
"ALPR is not a crystal ball," he said. "It is a tool. It doesn't solve crime. Police officers solve crime. Videos don't solve crime, cameras don't solve crime. The community working with the police department solves crime."
