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License-plate readers · Baltimore city

Baltimore city

Using license-plate readers · 1 agency documented

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Baltimore Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Leonardo (ELSAG), Axon
Cameras
125
125 reader systems in 2025: 73 mobile, 47 fixed and 5 portable trailers (128 in 2024). More than 200 Axon readers were bought under a 2026 contract; Technical.ly reported they were not yet in use.
Contract
Axon: $153,000,000 term · from May 6, 2026 · approved by Baltimore Board of Estimates, 2026-05-06 · 10-year, $153 million no-bid contract for body cameras, Tasers and other equipment; Technical.ly reported public records show it includes more than 200 Axon plate readers. The amount covers the whole contract, not readers alone. (The Baltimore Banner, May 6, 2026; Technical.ly, Sept. 9, 2026)
Contract
Thomson Reuters (CLEAR): $1,460,000 term · from March 4, 2026 · to Jan. 2030 · approved by Baltimore Board of Estimates, 2026-03-04 (3 yes, 2 abstaining) · $1.46 million for Thomson Reuters CLEAR through January 2030, a search service that adds historical plate-location data to police investigations. It is not a camera contract. (Baltimore Brew, March 5, 2026; The Baltimore Sun (via WBFF FOX45), March 7, 2026)
  1. Feb. 19, 2019 Policy 1015 took effect, requiring a legitimate law enforcement purpose for any search, verification of a hit before acting on it, and an annual audit of 1% of server records. The policy sets 18-month data retention. (Baltimore Police Department (PowerDMS), Feb. 19, 2019)
  2. Nov. 26, 2019 Officials told a City Council committee the department would add 15 fixed readers, bringing the city to 35, with Bloomberg Philanthropies money among the funding sources. (Technical.ly, Dec. 3, 2019)
  3. Feb. 18, 2026 In its report for 2025, the department said its server recorded 279,279,599 reads (MCAC counted 277,702,131), staff ran 93,014 searches, 930 searches were audited, and 1,182 users were authorized. It reported a nine-month retention policy and no out-of-state or federal requests. (Maryland Department of State Police / Maryland Coordination and Analysis Center (via Department of Legislative Services Library), March 1, 2026)
  4. March 4, 2026 The Board of Estimates approved the $1.46 million Thomson Reuters CLEAR contract 3-0, with Council President Zeke Cohen and the deputy comptroller abstaining. (Baltimore Brew, March 5, 2026; The Baltimore Sun (via WBFF FOX45), March 7, 2026)
  5. May 6, 2026 The Board of Estimates approved the 10-year, $153 million Axon contract; The Banner reported the vote as 3-1, with Cohen voting no and Comptroller Bill Henry abstaining. (The Baltimore Banner, May 6, 2026)
  6. Aug. 2026 The department said it neither uses Flock nor has access to Flock's network; WBFF cited city purchasing records indicating its readers come from Leonardo (ELSAG). (WBFF FOX45, Aug. 18, 2026; Technical.ly, Sept. 9, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Retention differs by source: Policy 1015 (2019) says 18 months; the department's 2025 and 2026 reports to legislators say nine months.
  • The Banner (Oct. 1, 2026) reported the department had no readers in 2015.
  • Dated by month: WBFF (Aug. 18, 2026) gives no date for the department's statement.

From agency records.

Statewide

  1. April 14, 2014 The governor signed SB 699 (Chapter 192 of 2014), effective Oct. 1, 2014. It limits police use of captured plate data to a "legitimate law enforcement purpose," shields reader data from the Public Information Act, requires the State Police and agencies using readers to adopt operating and audit procedures, and requires annual reports to the General Assembly starting in 2016. (Maryland General Assembly, April 14, 2014; Maryland Department of Legislative Services, 2015)
  2. March 18, 2015 The House Judiciary Committee gave an unfavorable report to HB 417, which would have barred police from stopping a driver solely because plate-reader data showed the owner held a handgun carry permit. A similar bill, HB 1398, was filed in 2017; the legislature's site shows a March 14 hearing scheduled and no later action. (Maryland General Assembly, March 18, 2015; Maryland Department of Legislative Services, 2015; Maryland General Assembly, 2017)
  3. Oct. 1, 2015 MCAC sent its model audit policy for plate-reader data, developed in August 2015, to all Maryland law enforcement agencies. Under it, agencies audit a random sample of at least 1% of searches (minimum 50). (Maryland State Police / Maryland Coordination and Analysis Center (via Department of Legislative Services Library), March 5, 2025; Maryland Department of State Police / Maryland Coordination and Analysis Center (via Department of Legislative Services Library), March 1, 2026)
  4. May 16, 2024 The governor signed HB 1081 and SB 840 (Chapters 875 and 876 of 2024), effective Oct. 1, 2024. The law covers plate data stored in the cloud, makes captured data the property of the agency that collected it, bars its sale, allows certain data to be uploaded to MCAC, and extends penalties to vendors working for police. The House passed it 119-17 and the Senate 47-0. (Maryland General Assembly, May 16, 2024; Maryland General Assembly, 2024)
  5. Feb. 4, 2025 MCAC's report to legislators for calendar 2024 counted 857 reader units connected to the center and 1,010,086,796 reads retained from 18 agencies. It logged 5,221 requests to the center, 732 of them federal (609 resulting in a release), and reported no breaches. (Maryland State Police / Maryland Coordination and Analysis Center (via Department of Legislative Services Library), March 5, 2025)
  6. Feb. 27, 2026 MCAC's report for calendar 2025 counted 1,077 reader units connected to the center and 1,188,559,099 reads from 19 agencies. It logged 4,737 requests, 674 of them federal (570 resulting in a release), and reported no breaches. MCAC said it could not confirm that the agencies whose reports it forwarded were the only ones in Maryland using plate readers. (Maryland Department of State Police / Maryland Coordination and Analysis Center (via Department of Legislative Services Library), March 1, 2026; The Baltimore Sun (via WBFF FOX45), Aug. 25, 2026)
  7. Aug. 2026 After a Baltimore Sun analysis of the state reports, Sen. Charles Sydnor III (D-Baltimore County) said his office had begun collecting information to decide whether more legislation is needed. In October, The Banner reported that Sydnor, Senate Minority Leader Steven Hershey and Del. N. Scott Phillips want the 2027 session to look at private-sector plate readers, which state law does not regulate. (The Baltimore Sun (via WBFF FOX45), Aug. 25, 2026; The Baltimore Banner, Oct. 1, 2026)

State agencies

Maryland State Police (Maryland Coordination and Analysis Center)

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Vendor not named in source
Cameras
Count not documented
No unit count given for the State Police's own readers. MCAC runs the state's central plate-data server, and 1,077 units statewide were connected to it in 2025.
  1. Feb. 4, 2025 MCAC reported 73,402,736 reads from its own (State Police) readers in 2024, with 58 MCAC employees authorized to search the database. (Maryland State Police / Maryland Coordination and Analysis Center (via Department of Legislative Services Library), March 5, 2025)
  2. Feb. 27, 2026 MCAC reported 79,915,710 reads from State Police readers in 2025. It audited 80 of the 4,737 requests it received, and 58 employees were authorized to search. (Maryland Department of State Police / Maryland Coordination and Analysis Center (via Department of Legislative Services Library), March 1, 2026)
  3. April 1, 2026 In an April 1, 2026 letter on HB 1166, a front-plate bill, the State Police said plate readers used by Maryland law enforcement include fixed and mobile units, and that program figures show 30% to 40% of plates read by mobile units are front plates. (Maryland Department of State Police, Government Affairs Section, April 1, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Vendor not stated in the records found.

From agency records.

Maryland Transportation Authority Police

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Vendor not named in source
Cameras
126
126 cameras in 2025: 86 at nine fixed locations and 40 on 20 mobile units (124 in 2024).
  1. 2016 The State Police report for 2015 listed MDTA Police with 54,246,732 reads from fixed units and 1,519,931 from mobile units. (Maryland Coordination and Analysis Center, March 1, 2016)
  2. 2025 MDTA Police said its readers made 288,972,074 reads in 2024 and 303,253,851 in 2025, all sent to MCAC. Its own server keeps reads for no more than 14 days. MCAC's table counted 296,536,235 MDTA reads for 2025, the most of any agency. (Maryland State Police / Maryland Coordination and Analysis Center (via Department of Legislative Services Library), March 5, 2025; Maryland Department of State Police / Maryland Coordination and Analysis Center (via Department of Legislative Services Library), March 1, 2026)
  3. Feb. 19, 2026 The MDTA Office of Audits' compliance audit of 2025 plate-reader use (report INT 2026-07) found controls working and no reportable findings. (Maryland Department of State Police / Maryland Coordination and Analysis Center (via Department of Legislative Services Library), March 1, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • The Banner (Oct. 1, 2026) gave 1.5 million reads for 2015, which matches the mobile-unit count in the 2016 state report only.
  • Report figures differ: MDTA's own total and MCAC's table for 2025 are not the same; both are given as filed.

From agency records.