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License-plate readers · St. Louis city

St. Louis city

Using license-plate readers · 1 agency documented

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St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Vendor not named in source
Cameras
383
383 LPR units as of Feb. 2, 2025, installed in traffic signals and on 14 marked patrol vehicles (SLMPD 2025 Technology Report). The department's Surveillance Use Plan submitted with Resolution 192 lists 404 fixed units at intersections plus 14 vehicle units. KMOV (May 2026) reported the Real-Time Crime Center uses more than 100 readers. Vendor not named in any of these documents.
  1. April 15, 2024 Board of Aldermen gave final passage, 13-2, to Board Bill 185 (Ordinance 71842), requiring Board approval after a public hearing before city agencies use surveillance technology, including license plate readers; the mayor returned it unsigned May 1, 2024, and it took effect May 6, 2024. (City of St. Louis, date not shown; ACLU of Missouri, April 16, 2024)
  2. Nov. 15, 2024 Ald. Bret Narayan introduced Resolution 192 to review SLMPD's ALPR Surveillance Use Plan under Ordinance 71842; it was assigned to the Public Safety Committee. The supporting use plan describes fixed intersection cameras and 14 patrol-car units routed to the Real-Time Crime Center, 90-day retention, and use limited to felony investigations, wanted/stolen vehicles and missing or endangered persons. (City of St. Louis Board of Aldermen, date not shown; City of St. Louis / SLMPD, date not shown; St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, date not shown)
  3. Jan. 9, 2025 In revised surveillance use plans presented to the Public Safety Committee (presentation undated; committee met Jan. 9 and the file was created that day), SLMPD answered public comments calling for 30-day ALPR retention by explaining that it had earlier chosen 90 days, after talking with the ACLU, as a middle ground between the 180 days it said state rules allowed and what investigators needed. (City of St. Louis / SLMPD, Jan. 9, 2025; City of St. Louis Board of Aldermen, date not shown)
  4. Jan. 16, 2025 Public Safety Committee recommended Resolution 192 'do pass'. (City of St. Louis Board of Aldermen, date not shown)
  5. Feb. 4, 2025 Resolution 192 (ALPR Surveillance Use Plan authorization) passed second reading at the Board of Aldermen, per the city's legislative history. (City of St. Louis Board of Aldermen, date not shown)
  6. Feb. 28, 2025 SLMPD's 2025 Technology Report counted 383 LPR units, 328,541,438 plate reads in 2024, and 213,621 felony hits from Jan. 1, 2024, to Jan. 2, 2025; reads are purged after 90 days. A PSN grant paid $40,600 for repairs on 28 units. (St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, Feb. 28, 2025)
  7. May 27, 2026 KMOV reported SLMPD's Real-Time Crime Center uses more than 100 license plate readers (report date; no count date given). (KMOV (First Alert 4), May 27, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Per the use plan, most fixed units were bought by the city's Board of Public Service; 87 fixed units (about $4,000 each) and all vehicle units (about $16,000 each) were funded by the St. Louis Police Foundation.
  • The use plan says readers feed the Real-Time Crime Center, data is kept 90 days, SLMPD does not share data with other entities through an application, and ALPR records are treated as closed under RSMo 610.100(3).
  • The RTCC page says the center opened in March 2015 and uses fixed and mobile LPR.

From agency records.

Statewide

  1. 2024 SB 1334, sponsored by Sen. Bill Eigel in the 2024 session, proposed a new section 590.1100 RSMo barring state agencies and political subdivisions from buying, installing or using plate-reader systems or using captured plate data from public highways, except readers mounted on vehicles occupied by a peace officer and data captured by third-party vendors under sections 303.420 to 303.440. (Missouri Senate, date not shown)
  2. Jan. 2024 Sen. Mike Cierpiot (R-Lee's Summit) filed SB 1377 for the 2024 session to stop state agencies and local governments from buying, installing or operating automated license plate readers or collecting plate data from vehicles on public roads; readers on police vehicles and third-party data access for law enforcement were exempt. Missourinet reported March 4, 2024, that a Senate committee vote might come soon; the Post-Dispatch (via GovTech, Aug. 2024) later said the bill did not advance. (Missourinet, March 4, 2024; GovTech (republishing St. Louis Post-Dispatch), Aug. 12, 2024)
  3. Aug. 1, 2024 A state contract with Flock Safety covering 21 more license plate readers, worth $243,750, took effect Aug. 1, 2024, according to bidding documents cited by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The paper said the state's 2023 program put 43 readers in 11 mostly rural counties in mid-Missouri. The article quotes a Department of Public Safety spokesman but does not say which agency holds the contract. (GovTech (republishing St. Louis Post-Dispatch), Aug. 12, 2024)
  4. Jan. 8, 2025 HB 658, a 2025 bill from Rep. Jeff Vernetti (R-Camdenton) that KCUR described as a statewide ban on installing or using automated license plate readers, was prefiled Dec. 23, 2024, read the first time Jan. 8, 2025, read a second time Jan. 9, and referred to the House Emerging Issues committee May 15, 2025, its last action. Sen. Mike Moon filed a Senate version. (Missouri House of Representatives, date not shown; KCUR / The Midwest Newsroom, Sept. 23, 2026)
  5. Oct. 2, 2025 Gov. Mike Kehoe announced nearly $10 million in Blue Shield grants to 201 communities (60 counties, 137 cities, four towns); the governor's office said the awards include 151 license plate readers. Individual recipients were not listed in the release. (Office of Missouri Governor, Oct. 2, 2025)
  6. 2026 SB 1027 (Sen. Rick Brattin), filed in the 2026 session, proposed a new section 590.1000 RSMo barring state agencies and political subdivisions from buying, installing or using plate-reader systems on public highways, with exceptions for readers on vehicles occupied by peace officers and certain third-party vendor data. The legislature adjourned May 15, 2026 without passing it. (Missouri Senate, date not shown)
  7. Feb. 4, 2026 Rep. LaKeySha Bosley (D-St. Louis) introduced HB 3192, the Missouri Automatic License Plate Reader Regulation Act. It would limit police use to criminal investigations with reasonable suspicion and missing/endangered-person cases, bar general surveillance, immigration and civil code enforcement, require destruction of most data after 30 days, require reporting to the Highway Patrol starting Jan. 1, 2027, and make misuse a class A misdemeanor (class E felony for repeat offenses). It was read a second time Feb. 5 and referred to the Emerging Issues committee May 15, 2026; it never received a hearing. (Missouri House of Representatives, date not shown; Missouri House of Representatives, date not shown; Missouri House of Representatives, date not shown; KMOV (First Alert 4), Feb. 18, 2026; KCUR / The Midwest Newsroom, Sept. 23, 2026)
  8. Sept. 16, 2026 Gov. Mike Kehoe signed an executive order (Spectrum News refers to it as EO 26-18) putting temporary limits on plate readers used by state agencies and law enforcement that receives state money. In most cases plate and vehicle records have to be erased for good within 30 days; vendors cannot sell, pass along or profit from data gathered in Missouri; the readers may be used only for criminal-justice or life-saving work and cannot be paired with AI facial recognition; and misuse leads to discipline, a possible criminal referral and a report to the Public Safety director. Local departments were urged, not required, to follow the same practices. Kehoe framed the order as a temporary step until the legislature passes a law. (KY3, Sept. 16, 2026; St. Louis Public Radio, Sept. 16, 2026; Spectrum News, Sept. 16, 2026; Spectrum News, Oct. 1, 2026)
  9. Sept. 30, 2026 The Missouri Department of Public Safety released a 10-page guidance document for law enforcement as directed by the executive order. It recommends a documented law-enforcement purpose for every search, individual accountability for users, independent verification of alerts before enforcement, retention generally limited to 30 days, audits at least monthly, and no AI facial-recognition integration. DPS said it was working with chiefs, sheriffs and prosecutors on legislation for the next session. (KY3 / KCTV, Sept. 30, 2026; Spectrum News, Oct. 1, 2026)

State agencies

Missouri State Highway Patrol

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
6
KY3 (Sept. 16, 2026) reported the Patrol runs six Flock cameras, contracted through the Department of Public Safety, and already keeps data 30 days. Separately, a state Flock contract added 21 readers in 2024 after 43 were placed in 11 mid-Missouri counties in 2023 (Post-Dispatch via GovTech); that report does not name the operating agency.
Contract
Flock Safety: $243,750 term · from Aug. 1, 2024 · approved by Missouri Department of Public Safety (state contract; per bidding documents reported by St. Louis Post-Dispatch) · Covers 21 additional readers. The article does not name the operating agency; KCTV5 (Sept. 2026) reports the Patrol contracts for Flock cameras through DPS. (GovTech (republishing St. Louis Post-Dispatch), Aug. 12, 2024; KCTV5, Sept. 16, 2026)
  1. Sept. 16, 2026 KCTV5 and KY3 reported that the Patrol contracts for Flock cameras through the Department of Public Safety and uses them to track stolen cars. KY3 said the Patrol runs six cameras, already keeps data for 30 days, and did not have to make immediate changes under the governor's order. (KCTV5, Sept. 16, 2026; KY3, Sept. 16, 2026)
  2. Sept. 30, 2026 DPS issued statewide plate-reader guidance under the governor's executive order; DPS Director Mark James named the Patrol among the groups consulted. (Spectrum News, Oct. 1, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Hotlists on at least one St. Louis County Flock portal (Chesterfield) list MULES (MSHP) as a source; this reflects the Patrol's criminal-records network, not Patrol-owned cameras.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.