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License-plate readers · Ramsey

Ramsey

Using license-plate readers · 9 agencies documented

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University of Minnesota Police Department (Twin Cities)

Status
Removing or limiting cameras
Vendors
Flock Safety, Axon
Cameras
10
Active stationary Flock units at the Oct. 2025 audit; separately about 29 mobile Axon units.
Sources
Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, date not shown
  1. Oct. 15, 2025 Flock audit (Sept. 1, 2023 to Aug. 31, 2025) reported 10 active stationary units and no mobile Flock units. (Minnesota Legislative Reference Library (filed audit), Oct. 15, 2025)
  2. Oct. 16, 2025 Axon audit reported about 29 active mobile Axon units, operational since March 11, 2025. (Minnesota Legislative Reference Library (filed audit), Oct. 16, 2025)
  3. Sept. 2026 FOX 9 reported UMPD agreed in mid-September 2026 to remove one Flock camera near Cedar and Riverside after neighborhood objections. (FOX 9, Sept. 30, 2026)
  4. Oct. 1, 2026 Minneapolis City Council's nonbinding resolution asked the University to end use of Flock cameras located in Minneapolis. (City of Minneapolis, Oct. 1, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • BCA public list shows 13 fixed locations, mostly on the Minneapolis campus. St. Paul campus portion is in Ramsey County.
  • As background to the Oct. 1, 2026 resolution, the city bulletin cited a July 2026 Star Tribune investigation reporting that federal immigration agencies such as ICE could access Flock camera data. The bulletin did not say whether University data was involved.

From agency records.

Maplewood Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Axon
Sources
Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, date not shown
  1. March 1, 2026 Independent audit (Jan. 1, 2024 to July 31, 2025) said the program began Jan. 1, 2024 with Axon squad readers and reported no fixed readers. (Minnesota Legislative Reference Library (filed audit), March 1, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • The BCA public list now shows 19 fixed locations for Maplewood, which the audit period did not include; the vendor and start date for those fixed readers are not documented in what we opened.

From agency records.

Ramsey County Sheriff's Office

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
33
Count of fixed location entries listed for the office on the BCA public list (Oct. 30, 2026), across St. Paul, North Oaks, North St. Paul, Vadnais Heights and White Bear Lake.
Sources
Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, date not shown
  1. Aug. 20, 2026 FOX 9 reported the sheriff said the county has used Flock for about three years; 11 of the county's Flock cameras are in St. Paul per the BCA list. (FOX 9, Aug. 20, 2026)
  2. Aug. 26, 2026 St. Paul City Council unanimously passed a nonbinding resolution calling on the city and Ramsey County to end their Flock contracts; the sheriff said county cameras would stay. (MPR News, Aug. 27, 2026; Villager (myvillager.com), date not shown)
  3. Oct. 2026 Star Tribune reported Vadnais Heights' council paused the sheriff's planned installation of three more cameras in that city (republished Oct. 26, 2026). (Minnesota Star Tribune (via GovTech), Oct. 26, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Contract terms and County Board approval not located.

From agency records.

Roseville Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Sources
Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, date not shown
  1. Jan. 29, 2026 Independent audit (Oct. 20, 2023 to Dec. 15, 2025) confirmed stationary Flock readers with 30-day retention. (Minnesota Legislative Reference Library (filed audit), Jan. 29, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • The BCA public list shows six location entries for Roseville, two of them with more than one device (nine devices in all).

From agency records.

St. Paul Police Department

Status
Removing or limiting cameras
Vendors
Flock Safety, Axon
Cameras
2
City-owned Flock cameras near Kellogg Boulevard and Smith Avenue that the city said it would remove; Axon squad readers are separate and not counted.
Sources
Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, date not shown
  1. Dec. 19, 2025 LOGIS biennial audit found the department in compliance with § 13.824 (policy 445.17, 60-day retention). (Minnesota Legislative Reference Library (filed audit), Dec. 19, 2025)
  2. Aug. 26, 2026 After the council's unanimous nonbinding resolution, the mayor and police chief announced the city's two Flock cameras would be removed in the interim. (MPR News, Aug. 27, 2026; Villager (myvillager.com), date not shown)
  3. Aug. 26, 2026 MPR News reported that Council President Rebecca Noecker said after the hearing that the police department "had shared our people's data with 60 other agencies until just a couple days ago." In their joint statement that night, the mayor and police chief said they shared community concerns about "other jurisdictions accessing data during Operation Metro Surge." (MPR News, Aug. 27, 2026)
  4. Sept. 30, 2026 FOX 9 reported St. Paul also uses Axon mobile readers in squad cars. (FOX 9, Sept. 30, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Removal of the two Flock cameras not yet confirmed by a record.
  • BCA public list shows no fixed locations for SPPD.

From agency records.

White Bear Lake Police Department

Status
Ended or removed
Vendors
Motorola Solutions
Cameras
7
Motorola mobile squad units at the closeout audit.
Sources
Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, date not shown
  1. July 2026 Department stopped using its Motorola ALPR feature in July 2026 (system activated in 2024); a closeout audit covered Oct. 26, 2024 to July 29, 2026. (Minnesota Legislative Reference Library (filed audit), Oct. 28, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • BCA list still includes the department (no fixed locations) as of Oct. 30, 2026.

From agency records.

Statewide

  1. 2015 Minn. Stat. § 13.824 enacted (2015 c 67, s 3); later amended in 2021 (1st Spec. Sess.) and 2024 (c 127). It limits what ALPRs may collect, requires destruction of non-investigative data within 60 days, limits sharing to qualifying law-enforcement agencies, requires a public log of use and list of fixed locations, requires a biennial independent audit filed with the Legislative Commission on Data Practices and others within 30 days, requires written authorization and an active-investigation basis for access, and bars tracking an investigative subject without a warrant or exigent circumstances. (Enactment year only; month not checked.) (Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes, date not shown)
  2. 2015 Subdivision 8 requires agencies to notify the BCA within 10 days of installing or using an ALPR (including fixed locations); the BCA keeps a public list of agencies and reader locations unless a location is classified as security information. (Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes, date not shown)
  3. Nov. 20, 2025 The Legislative Commission on Data Practices took public testimony on ALPR and body-camera reporting requirements. (Legislative Coordinating Commission, Nov. 20, 2025)
  4. Dec. 11, 2025 The commission's members discussed ALPR and body-camera reporting requirements and potential statutory updates. (Legislative Coordinating Commission, Dec. 11, 2025; Legislative Coordinating Commission, Dec. 11, 2025)
  5. March 12, 2026 HF 4205 (Tabke) introduced: it would tighten ALPR data restrictions, centralize ALPR data in the BCA, and regulate private-entity ALPR use; referred to House Judiciary Finance and Civil Law with no further action shown. (Minnesota Legislature / Revisor of Statutes, March 12, 2026)
  6. March 23, 2026 Senate companion SF 4739 (Verbeten) introduced and referred to Judiciary and Public Safety; no further action shown. Its text would amend § 13.824 and add related provisions elsewhere in state law. (Minnesota Legislature / Revisor of Statutes, March 23, 2026; Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes, March 19, 2026)
  7. July 2026 A Star Tribune investigation published in July 2026 (exact date not confirmed) reported that law enforcement agencies inside and outside Minnesota searched plate-reader data from Twin Cities suburbs for civil immigration enforcement. Sahan Journal said the investigation found about 30 state, county and federal agencies ran such searches on cameras in at least eight suburbs between November 2025 and March 2026. MPR News reported hundreds of such searches, mostly on Fridley's cameras. The Minneapolis City Council bulletin said the investigation reported that federal immigration agencies such as ICE could access Flock data. In October 2026 the Star Tribune said the searches took place during Operation Metro Surge. (Sahan Journal, Aug. 18, 2026; MPR News, Aug. 17, 2026; City of Minneapolis, Oct. 1, 2026; Government Technology (TNS / Minnesota Star Tribune), Aug. 4, 2026; Government Technology (TNS / Minnesota Star Tribune), Oct. 26, 2026; FOX 9, Aug. 14, 2026)
  8. Oct. 30, 2026 The BCA public list, checked Oct. 30, 2026, names 117 agencies that reported using ALPR or devices with ALPR capability. The page shows no 'last updated' date. (Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, date not shown)

State agencies

Minnesota State Patrol

Status
Program documented, current use unconfirmed
Vendors
PIPS Technology
Cameras
6
ALPR systems on patrol vehicles at the 2024 audit.
Sources
Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, date not shown
  1. Feb. 27, 2024 Audit (Jan. 1, 2022 to Dec. 31, 2023) reported six active ALPR systems on patrol vehicles and no stationary units; it reviewed the PIPS Technology BOSS system. (Minnesota Legislative Reference Library (filed audit), Feb. 27, 2024)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Still on the BCA public list (no fixed locations) as of Oct. 30, 2026; no 2025-2026 audit located.

From agency records.