License Plate Readers Coming to Orange Beach
By Rick McCann
Blue RAM Media
April 28, 2025
UPDATE: Orange Beach Police Lt. Johnson answered our questions on Monday and stated that the city already has four license plate readers in use at undisclosed locations. OBPD will be adding 12-14 more ALPRs.
Data from the ALPRs is deleted every thirty days.
The APLRs will be used to deter crime and to alert police when it scans a license plate that comes back to a stolen vehicle or wanted person.
ORANGE BEACH Ala. The City of Orange Beach recently applied for and received a special grant from Governor Ivey’s office for special funds to provide police equipment.
The city was among more than a dozen other law enforcement agencies in Alabama that received grants to replace or add equipment such as body armor, body-worn cameras, and in Orange Beach, “Automatic License PlateReaders”.
We have been told that the “ALPRs” will be positioned at the entrance and exit areas of the city which will assist police to solve crimes and possibly even prevent crimes.
The way that a License Plate Reader works is as a vehicle passes the camera, it takes a photo of the vehicle’s license plate and scans it through multiple databases to see if the vehicle is stolen, or has been used in a recent crime. It also runs the owner of the vehicle through the national databases to see if the person is currently wanted for crimes, has outstanding arrest warrants, or is reported as a missing or endangered person.
Nationwide, the use of both stationary and police vehicle plate readers has solved thousands of crimes and assisted in the capture of countless wanted fugitives including murderers, kidnappers, and the worse of the worse, as well as the recovery of thousands of stolen vehicles.
License Plate Readers are one of many tools used by today’s law enforcement to prevent and solve crimes.
Concerns of citizens about these tools include issues of privacy.
Anyone can take a picture of another person, building, item, or property in public. While in a public space, there is no legal expectation of privacy.
However, law enforcement does have a responsibility to not use such tools in a manner that would be unconstitutional or an invasion of privacy and there are strict guidelines in most states for the use of any License Plate Reader system.
Another concern that many have had in other areas is the length of time that the data is stored.
The retention period for LPR data varies by state and jurisdiction. Some states have specific legislation dictating how long LPR data can be retained, while others have no specific limit.
For example, California requires agencies to implement policies that protect data privacy and limit data retention periods. In Utah, laws require that the police delete license plate data nine months after collection.
In Alabama, police may retain LPR data for no more than five years.
At this time, we have contacted Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon and Police Chief Steve Brown for clarity on the use of the License Plate Readers and the length of time that the data will be stored.
A follow-up to our news story will be published upon receiving that information.
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