New Haven County license-plate readers

New Haven Police Department

Status: Using license-plate readers
Vendors: Rekor Systems
Cameras: 300
Reported as 'more than 300' automated license plate readers around the city (WFSB, March 2026; NBC Connecticut, October 2026). 300 is the floor, not an exact count.
Sources: NBC Connecticut, Oct. 5, 2026; WFSB, March 13, 2026; New Haven Independent, via Patch (news partner reprint), March 29, 2026; WFSB, May 28, 2026

Dec. 2025 Rekor told the department in a document, sent in December, that the department alone decides how its plate data is used or shared, the Independent reported. (New Haven Independent, via Patch (news partner reprint), March 29, 2026)
March 2026 WFSB, citing U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, reported a $750,000 federal community projects grant for New Haven police that would pay for more plate readers, stop sticks and GPS darts for tracking fleeing cars. (WFSB, March 13, 2026)
March 2026 The New Haven Independent reported the city planned to spend part of that grant on up to 200 more readers, that the department's vendor is Rekor, and that the department does not use Flock. (New Haven Independent, via Patch (news partner reprint), March 29, 2026)
March 2026 Acting Chief David Zannelli told the Independent the department queries or shares plate data only for criminal investigations and that outsiders cannot see it unless the department grants access; he said the department was updating its policy to meet state POST Council guidelines. (New Haven Independent, via Patch (news partner reprint), March 29, 2026)
Aug. 2026 Mayor Justin Elicker asked the state not to restrict the city's existing cameras, calling them important to solving crimes, including murders. (WFSB, Aug. 10, 2026)
Oct. 2026 Chief Zannelli told NBC Connecticut plate images are stored for 21 days, only the department can access them, and they can be shared with other departments on request at its discretion. (NBC Connecticut, Oct. 5, 2026)

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Waterbury Police Department

Status: Program documented, current use unconfirmed
Vendors: Vendor not named in source
Cameras: Count not documented
No count found.
Sources: Connecticut Post, via Police1, Dec. 6, 2009

Dec. 2009 A Connecticut Post story on Greenwich's purchase of a vehicle-mounted Mobile Plate Hunter 900 reader system said, citing police, that the system was also in place in Waterbury. (Connecticut Post, via Police1, Dec. 6, 2009)

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Milford Police Department

Status: Removing or limiting cameras
Vendors: Flock Safety
Cameras: 20
Deputy Chief Timothy Wydra at an October 2026 committee meeting: 31 ALPRs at the peak, brought down to 20. Separate from these are Flock Condor video cameras (25 installed, 36 pending, per WFSB), whose use was paused in October. WFSB and WTNH report 14 readers left active at the city's borders; see notes.
Contract: Flock Safety: $114,000 per year · from June 2026 (WFSB, Oct. 4, 2026)
Contract: Flock Safety: $200,000 renewal invoice, period not stated · from 2026 (WFSB, Oct. 4, 2026)
Sources: WFSB, Oct. 8, 2026; WFSB, Sept. 15, 2026; WFSB, Aug. 28, 2026; Flock Safety / Milford Police Department, Nov. 1, 2025; WTNH, Oct. 6, 2026; News 12 Connecticut, Aug. 28, 2026; WSHU, Sept. 8, 2026; NBC Connecticut, Aug. 3, 2026; NBC Connecticut, Oct. 8, 2026; NBC Connecticut, Oct. 5, 2026; WFSB, Oct. 4, 2026; WFSB, Aug. 19, 2026; WFSB, Aug. 26, 2026; Patch, Aug. 4, 2026

March 2025 Under a March 2025 ordinance, WFSB reported, the city set aside $550,000 for citywide camera infrastructure as part of a police camera project. (WFSB, Oct. 4, 2026)
Aug. 2025 NBC Connecticut says the city put in the Flock cameras in August 2025. WFSB says only that Flock was added to the readers in 2025 and that readers have been around the city for more than 25 years. (NBC Connecticut, Aug. 3, 2026; WFSB, Aug. 19, 2026)
Nov. 1, 2025 The department's Flock transparency portal, last updated this date, showed 520,822 unique vehicles detected and 227 searches in 30 days, 30-day retention, and immigration enforcement listed as a prohibited use. (Flock Safety / Milford Police Department, Nov. 1, 2025)
May 2026 WFSB got search records with the reasons blacked out; the department said those entries might hold details that could harm open cases. (WFSB, May 28, 2026)
June 2026 The deputy chief put his signature on a Condor order form in June that renews the cameras for three more years, WFSB reported. (WFSB, Oct. 4, 2026)
July 15, 2026 WFSB reported that police were investigating vandalism of Flock cameras along roads including Boston Post Road; NBC Connecticut reported several were damaged and, as of early August, no arrests. (WFSB, July 24, 2026; NBC Connecticut, Aug. 3, 2026)
Aug. 3, 2026 Aldermen voted 8-6 to put off until September a proposal halting Flock cameras and other surveillance devices during a 90-day review; public comment beforehand ran close to three hours. (Patch, Aug. 4, 2026; WFSB, Aug. 26, 2026)
Aug. 6, 2026 The police employees union demanded to bargain over removal of cameras and asked for a cease-and-desist, NBC Connecticut reported. (NBC Connecticut, Sept. 3, 2026)
Aug. 12, 2026 A reader at Gulf Street and New Haven Avenue was deactivated, the first of nine on a list published by WTNH. (WTNH, Aug. 31, 2026)
Aug. 14, 2026 The police union published an open letter backing the technology, saying officers had made many arrests with it, the Journal Inquirer reported. (Journal Inquirer, via GovTech, Aug. 19, 2026)
Aug. 19, 2026 At a public forum, Chief Keith Mello said no new cameras would be installed, data retention would drop to seven days and a police commission subcommittee would approve or remove cameras. (WFSB, Aug. 19, 2026; WFSB, Aug. 26, 2026)
Aug. 20, 2026 The union filed a complaint with the state labor department arguing that removing cameras violated its bargaining agreement; a State Board of Labor Relations hearing was set for Sept. 8, according to NBC Connecticut. No outcome was found. (NBC Connecticut, Sept. 3, 2026)
Aug. 25, 2026 Eight more readers were deactivated on Aug. 24 and 25, for nine in all, with vendor removal scheduled around Sept. 21, per WTNH. (WTNH, Aug. 31, 2026)
Aug. 27, 2026 At a special meeting the Board of Aldermen paused speed and red-light cameras and Flock cameras away from the city's borders, and created a Public Safety Technology Review Committee. WTNH reported a decision to remove the listed readers after the meeting; News 12 reported the board rejected the mayor's suspension plan. No tally was reported. (WTNH, Aug. 31, 2026; WFSB, Aug. 28, 2026; NBC Connecticut, Oct. 8, 2026; News 12 Connecticut, Aug. 28, 2026)
Sept. 14, 2026 A full Flock ban failed on a 9-6 vote and a bid to halt police drone flights also lost; cameras at the town line and at schools keep running while a citizen panel takes 60 to 90 days to study options. (WFSB, Sept. 15, 2026; WFSB, Aug. 28, 2026)
Oct. 2026 The board rejected a motion to shut down the Condor video cameras, which Flock says can read plates, and voted to pause them until the review committee finishes. (NBC Connecticut, Oct. 5, 2026)
Oct. 2026 The review committee met but did not finish its agenda and set its next public session for Nov. 10, aiming to give the board recommendations by December. (WFSB, Oct. 8, 2026; NBC Connecticut, Oct. 8, 2026)

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Cheshire Police Department

Status: Using license-plate readers
Vendors: Flock Safety
Cameras: 12
12 Flock plate-reading cameras operational, per police (NBC Connecticut, Aug. 4, 2026); WFSB's story the same day also says 12, without attributing it; the Flock portal, last updated May 2025, also shows 12.
Sources: NBC Connecticut, Aug. 4, 2026; WFSB, Aug. 4, 2026; Flock Safety / Cheshire Police Department, May 4, 2025

May 4, 2025 The department's Flock portal, last updated this date, showed 12 cameras, 294,495 vehicles detected and 285 searches in 30 days, and 30-day retention. (Flock Safety / Cheshire Police Department, May 4, 2025)
May 2026 WFSB's review of department records from May 2023 to November 2025 reported Houston police searched Cheshire's system the most in 2025, and about 1,727 instances of 'immigration' or 'ICE' searches by outside agencies, which WFSB noted state law no longer allows. (WFSB, May 28, 2026)
May 2026 A department spokesperson told WFSB it supports continued use of the technology and called it invaluable for finding missing and wanted people. (WFSB, May 28, 2026)
Aug. 2026 Dozens of residents pressed the Town Council to take the cameras down. With the matter off the agenda the council did nothing, and its chair floated a public session on the cameras at a later date. (NBC Connecticut, Aug. 4, 2026; WFSB, Aug. 4, 2026)

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Prospect Police

Status: Using license-plate readers
Vendors: Flock Safety
Cameras: 6
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Sources: WFSB, May 28, 2026

May 2026 A spokesperson told WFSB the department does not share its data with out-of-state agencies; WFSB received in-department search data from March 2025 to Jan. 22, 2026. (WFSB, May 28, 2026)

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Meriden Police Department

Status: Program documented, current use unconfirmed
Vendors: Vendor not named in source
Cameras: Count not documented
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Sources: Meriden Police Department, Oct. 20, 2026

March 16, 2026 Meriden's General Order Operations-34 on automatic license plate readers, issued under Chief Roberto Rosado, sets a 21-day retention limit and monthly audits and bars immigration enforcement and protected health care investigations; it was last revised Oct. 20, 2026. (Meriden Police Department, Oct. 20, 2026)

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2012 A 2012 license plate reader bill cleared two legislative committees but never received a House floor vote, the Middletown Press reported in 2026. (The Middletown Press, via GovTech, Feb. 4, 2026)
June 19, 2022 CT Mirror reported that Connecticut then had no statute governing police use of plate reader data and did not require its deletion by any deadline; measures the ACLU backed in 2012 and 2013 to purge data after 14 days did not advance. (CT Mirror, June 19, 2022)
Aug. 21, 2023 The Connecticut Post reported, citing state police, that state and local agencies had purchased 93 plate readers in total, and said no current figure existed for how many were active statewide. (Connecticut Post, via GovTech, Aug. 21, 2023)
Nov. 10, 2025 The ACLU of Connecticut and allied groups called for a statewide moratorium on plate readers until legislation passes, and the ACLU said it filed 94 public records requests with police departments, including one to the Connecticut State Police. (ACLU of Connecticut, Nov. 10, 2025; WSHU, Nov. 11, 2025; Journal Inquirer, via GovTech, Nov. 11, 2025)
Feb. 4, 2026 The Middletown Press, crediting a CT Insider investigation, reported that out-of-state police and other authorities had run thousands of searches of Connecticut camera data, often tagged "ICE" or "ICE-assist". It also reported that no official tally shows how many Connecticut towns use readers and that officials keep no central list of them. (The Middletown Press, via GovTech, Feb. 4, 2026)
March 9, 2026 The Judiciary Committee held a public hearing on HB 5449, An Act Concerning Automated License Plate Reader Systems. (Connecticut General Assembly, April 9, 2026; CT Mirror, March 10, 2026)
March 18, 2026 The Government Administration and Elections Committee set a public hearing on HB 5552, on state contract requirements for plate reader information. The committee approved a substitute on March 23, and the bill was tabled for the House calendar on April 9. (Connecticut General Assembly, April 9, 2026)
March 23, 2026 The Judiciary Committee approved a substitute HB 5449, 32-9. It was tabled for the House calendar on April 9. (Connecticut General Assembly, April 9, 2026; Connecticut General Assembly, April 9, 2026)
April 2026 The state Senate passed SB 397, which carried plate reader language that the ACLU of Connecticut says came from HB 5449. CT Mirror reported no tally. (CT Mirror, April 14, 2026; ACLU of Connecticut, May 6, 2026)
April 7, 2026 The Office of Fiscal Analysis note on HB 5449 said the Police Officer Standards and Training Council had already adopted a plate reader model policy and that DESPP had the expertise to write regulations, projecting no fiscal impact. (Connecticut Office of Fiscal Analysis, April 7, 2026)
May 2026 The House passed SB 397 91-53, CT Mirror reported on May 1; the no votes were every House Republican plus four Democrats. (CT Mirror, May 1, 2026)
May 2026 The Justice Department sued Connecticut and officials including Attorney General William Tong over SB 397, WTIC reported on May 16. The report describes a challenge to rules on federal officers such as face coverings and does not mention the plate reader provisions. Tong said the state would "vigorously defend the law." (WTIC News, May 16, 2026)
May 2026 The Journal Inquirer reported that Attorney General William Tong had said earlier that he intended to examine the searches CT Insider uncovered. No Attorney General opinion or enforcement action on plate readers was found. (Journal Inquirer, via Police1, May 7, 2026)
May 4, 2026 SB 397 was approved as Public Act 26-14; sections 13 to 15 regulate plate readers. Most operating limits apply from October 1, 2026, and contract requirements apply from the section's effective date. (Connecticut General Assembly, May 4, 2026; Connecticut Office of Legislative Research, Aug. 12, 2026)
May 4, 2026 PA 26-14 caps retention of plate reader data at 21 days, with exceptions including warrants and court orders, supervisor-approved evidence holds in active criminal investigations, and de-identified traffic analytics. (Connecticut General Assembly, May 4, 2026; Connecticut Office of Legislative Research, Aug. 12, 2026)
May 4, 2026 PA 26-14 bars using plate reader systems or data to assist immigration enforcement, to investigate legal reproductive or gender-affirming care, to identify people in First Amendment activity, or to target people by protected characteristics. (Connecticut General Assembly, May 4, 2026; Connecticut Office of Legislative Research, Aug. 12, 2026)
May 4, 2026 PA 26-14 limits sharing to other Connecticut public agencies; individuals seeking data on vehicles registered to them; law enforcement in New York, Rhode Island or Massachusetts and multijurisdictional task forces with a Connecticut member, on written assurance of compliance; and other law enforcement, federal included, only with a judge's probable cause warrant or for a possible Terrorist Screening Database match. It bars real-time, bulk or automatic access except in response to a documented, case-specific request. (Connecticut General Assembly, May 4, 2026; Connecticut Office of Legislative Research, Aug. 12, 2026)
May 4, 2026 PA 26-14 makes plate reader data confidential and not a public record, while device locations (with a federal funding exception) and redacted audit and access logs are public. (Connecticut General Assembly, May 4, 2026; Connecticut Office of Legislative Research, Aug. 12, 2026)
May 4, 2026 PA 26-14 lets the Attorney General sue vendors, with civil penalties of up to $2,500 per violation, and lets aggrieved people seek injunctive or declaratory relief against public agencies from October 1, 2026. (Connecticut General Assembly, May 4, 2026; Connecticut Office of Legislative Research, Aug. 12, 2026)
May 4, 2026 PA 26-14 deadlines: POST model policy by December 1, 2026; agency adoption and a standard reporting form by January 1, 2027; annual agency reports each January 31; a consolidated UConn Institute for Municipal and Regional Policy report by July 30, 2027; DESPP regulations by January 1, 2028. (Connecticut General Assembly, May 4, 2026)
Aug. 5, 2026 Senators Bob Duff and James Maroney asked towns to hold off voluntarily on installing new plate readers and Flock cameras, promised further privacy legislation in 2027, and said they would ask DESPP for a town-by-town tally of where Flock cameras are and how many there are. (Connecticut Senate Democrats, Aug. 5, 2026; WFSB, Aug. 5, 2026)
Aug. 7, 2026 Gov. Ned Lamont asked POST to issue guidance on safety cameras and plate readers within 30 days for local and state police, and urged municipalities to "immediately pause the installation of any new cameras and ALPRs" until it was final. (Office of the Governor of Connecticut, Aug. 7, 2026)
Aug. 12, 2026 The Office of Legislative Research issued report 2026-R-0125 summarizing the new law, citing PA 26-14 sections 13 to 15 as amended by PA 26-76 section 46. (Connecticut Office of Legislative Research, Aug. 12, 2026)
Sept. 2026 POST adopted a report recommending seven-day retention rather than 21, along with periodic audits, a required case number for data lookups and a ban on shared user accounts. Its chair called the recommendations "only advisory." Reports differ on length (59 or 50 pages), and no vote tally was reported. (CT Mirror, Sept. 24, 2026; Connecticut Public, Sept. 24, 2026)
Sept. 2026 A POST survey counted 1,564 plate reader cameras statewide, as reported by agencies. Of 97 responding agencies, 71 reported fixed readers, and 19 agencies reported no cameras deployed. The largest single agency, unnamed, reported 323 cameras. Reports differ on the vendor figures for Flock (39.4%), Axon (28.3%) and Rekor (24.2%): WFSB describes them as shares of respondents, CT Mirror as shares of cameras. (WFSB, Sept. 24, 2026; CT Mirror, Sept. 24, 2026)
Sept. 29, 2026 WFSB reported that Flock emailed Connecticut departments about a "security incident" in which device names, locations and types were put online. Flock said no pictures, footage or sensitive police data got out, and that it first learned of the access problem in November 2025. (WFSB, Sept. 29, 2026; NBC Connecticut, Oct. 5, 2026)
Oct. 1, 2026 The law's operating limits took effect. WFSB reported that Flock capped retention at 21 days in its Connecticut software and warned that agencies failing to confirm they would follow state rules would lose access to Connecticut agencies' data. (WFSB, Oct. 1, 2026; Connecticut General Assembly, May 4, 2026)

State agencies

Connecticut State Police (DESPP)

Status: Using license-plate readers
Vendors: Flock Safety, Vendor not named in source
Cameras: 15
At least 14 cruiser-mounted cameras and one stationary reader, per the Journal Inquirer in November 2025, which also reported 30 more on order as of May 2025. The article names no source for these figures and no vendor for them.
Sources: Journal Inquirer, via GovTech, Nov. 11, 2025; The Day, via GovTech, Nov. 3, 2025

Aug. 21, 2023 The Connecticut Post reported, citing state police, that 93 plate readers had been purchased, and said no current figure existed for how many were active statewide. (Connecticut Post, via GovTech, Aug. 21, 2023)
Nov. 2024 Inside Investigator reported that DESPP never answered its November 2024 records request about plate reader data. (Inside Investigator, July 12, 2026)
Nov. 2025 The Day listed the state police among at least 45 Connecticut departments with a Flock partnership, without saying whether that covers its own cameras. (The Day, via GovTech, Nov. 3, 2025)
Nov. 10, 2025 The ACLU of Connecticut said it sent a public records request to the state police about its plate reader use. (ACLU of Connecticut, Nov. 10, 2025; Journal Inquirer, via GovTech, Nov. 11, 2025)

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University of Connecticut (parking enforcement)

Status: Program documented, current use unconfirmed
Vendors: Vendor not named in source
Cameras: Count not documented
No count found. A UConn notice describes car-mounted cameras that match plates to permit records.
Sources: UConn Today, July 14, 2021; Inside Investigator, July 12, 2026

July 2021 UConn Parking and Transportation Services said in a July 2021 post that license plate recognition enforcement using car-mounted cameras would start that August. (UConn Today, July 14, 2021)
Nov. 2024 Inside Investigator reported that UConn gave it data from its ALPR system in response to requests filed in November 2024; the article does not say which UConn unit runs the system. (Inside Investigator, July 12, 2026)

Conflicts and open questions

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.