Automated License Plate Recognition

Automated License Plate Recognition

Hamilton Police Service uses Automated License Plate Recognition (ALPR) cameras to automatically scan and detect license plates in the surrounding area of a police cruiser. This makes it more difficult for suspended drivers, drivers of stolen cars, and other vehicles with plates in poor standing to drive undetected. Under optimal conditions, the ALPR system is capable of scanning thousands of license plates per hour.

The information stored in the hotlist is information that is already available to our officers if they were to run your license plate on the computer in their car themselves; it does not give them access to any new information. 

For more information on the ALPR policy and usage, please visit the transparency portal at: Axon Transparency Portal (evidence.com)

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In a dedicated ALPR system, there are two or three cameras mounted on the roof of the cruiser that scans passing license plates. 

The HPS is using an integrated system that is mounted on the front windshield of the cruiser.  This system includes a front-facing dash camera, as well as a camera that uses artificial intelligence to scan passing license plates.

The license plate scanner continuously scans license plates as an officer drives around the city. The officer is notified when there is a “hit” and will take the appropriate enforcement action. For example, if the hit indicated a license plate was owned by a suspended driver, the officer would stop the vehicle to determine if the driver of the vehicle was that person.

Officers who are assigned to ALPR enforcement have access to an Ontario Ministry of Transportation and Canadian Police Information Centre “hot list”, which is a database that contains millions of license plates in poor standing. If the ALPR camera scans a license plate that is registered to the hot list, it produces a hit, alerting the officers on a monitor in the cruiser that the plate is in poor standing. 

License plates that are in poor standing can fall into one or more of the following categories:

  • Plates that belong to a driver with a suspended license
  • Plates associated with stolen vehicles or that are reported stolen or missing
  • Plates that have been suspended
  • Plates with expired validation tags
  • Plates associated with persons with outstanding Canada-wide warrants or who are reported missing

 

For a complete list of reasons, please read the IPC's report.

A hit happens when a scanned license plate matches a license plate on the hotlist.

A non-hit happens when a scanned license plate does not match a plate on the hotlist.

If your license plate is non-hit, the officer will not even be notified that your plate was scanned. All information related to a non-hit is deleted.

If your license plate is a hit, the officer will receive a notification of the hit and will receive basic information about the vehicle and the registered owner such as the make, model, and colour of the vehicle, and the name, gender, and date of birth of the owner.

The officer must then stop the vehicle and verify all information within the hit before taking any enforcement action. Hit information is retained in accordance with the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA).

The ALPR scanner takes and stores pictures of all vehicles that pass it that are on the hot list.

The system cannot be used to detect moving violations such as speeding, going through a red light, or distracted driving.

As the system does include a dash camera, video is generated when the system is triggered through manual activation by the officer or pre-determined automatic triggers such as turning on the roof lights.  Offences observed by an officer who activates the camera may be captured on video.

Hamilton Police Service will have 78 cars outfitted with the technology by fall 2023.

Our vehicles equipped with ALPR scanning technology are part of our patrol fleet and will be deployed within the Divisions. 

The Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (IPC) has released guidelines on the use of ALPRS by police services. The report ensures that the Police Service’s use of this technology respects citizens' privacy rights recognized under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and that personal information is handled in a lawful manner.

Our collection, retention, use, and disclosure of any personal information obtained from the ALPRS program is done so in compliance with the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA).

If you have any questions or concerns related to this technology, please call 905.546.3621.