Essex County

Statewide

1. Nov. 18, 2015 The Attorney General revised Law Enforcement Directive 2010-5, the original statewide rules for police use of license plate readers. Both were later replaced by Directive 2022-12. (New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, Oct. 21, 2022)
2. May 2022 The state said it would put $10 million in federal American Rescue Plan money into license plate reader technology, with part going to cameras on major highways and the rest to county and local police through a competitive process. Recipients had to agree to share plate data with the State Police. (Date is when Route Fifty reported the plan, May 2, 2022.) (Route Fifty, May 2, 2022)
3. Oct. 15, 2022 Applications were due for the Attorney General's ARP license plate reader grant program, which set aside $9,750,000: $5,000,000 for the State Police network and $4,750,000 in competitive awards to local agencies. Equipment needed State Police pre-approval for compatibility, and the grant period ran December 1, 2022 through November 30, 2024. (New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, Grants, Sept. 2022)
4. Oct. 21, 2022 Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin issued Directive 2022-12, replacing the 2010 rules. It cut the retention period for plate data from five years to three, created a State ALPR Coordinator and required every agency to name its own coordinator, file an annual audit by January 31 and have it summarized publicly by March 31. Sharing with out-of-state or non-covered agencies requires a written agreement approved by the State Coordinator, only federally recognized law enforcement agencies may receive data, and private entities may give data to police but may not receive police data. It took effect January 23, 2023. (New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, Oct. 21, 2022)
5. April 30, 2023 The Attorney General announced plate-reader grants to 34 local and county agencies in all 21 counties, plus the State Police, under a $10 million program. Local awards ranged from $23,400 to $595,000, and the State Police received $3,014,329; the listed awards total about $9.75 million. The state said the grants would give every county fixed-location readers for the first time. (Dated to InsiderNJ's posting of the release.) (InsiderNJ (press release from NJ Office of the Attorney General), April 30, 2023)
6. June 1, 2023 A $335,780 federal Justice Assistance Grant to the State Police began, funding NJ SNAP, the system that ties police license plate readers statewide into one search interface, and the expansion of State Police-owned cameras. The grant period ran through September 30, 2024. (New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, Grants, 2023)
7. Feb. 2024 The Attorney General announced more than $1.4 million from the Department of Community Affairs and the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority for the State Police to buy and install 120 fixed license plate readers in and around Atlantic City. (StateScoop reported it February 20, 2024.) (StateScoop, Feb. 20, 2024; New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, Feb. 2024)
8. July 16, 2024 The State Police released the first statewide ALPR audit under Directive 2022-12, covering July 1 to December 31, 2023. All 517 agencies required to certify did so; the report listed two significant violations, both breaches of access procedures, and no citizen complaints. (New Jersey State Police, July 16, 2024; WRNJ Radio, July 2024)
9. July 2025 The Attorney General and State Police released the 2024 ALPR audit: 523 agencies filed certifications, and two significant violations were found, both involving users who had not finished required NJ SNAP training. (WRNJ reported it July 28, 2025.) (WRNJ Radio, July 28, 2025)
10. date not shown Senate bill S3035 (Sens. Benjie Wimberly and Shirley Turner) was pre-filed for the 2026 session. It would have agencies keep plate data for two years and then purge it, have county prosecutors or the Attorney General audit every agency each year, require yearly reports to the Attorney General, and make unauthorized access a disorderly persons offense. (New Jersey Legislature, 2026)
11. Feb. 19, 2026 The Senate Law and Public Safety Committee voted unanimously to release S1290 (Sen. Linda Greenstein). It would bar sharing plate reader data with out-of-state investigations into reproductive health care that is legal in New Jersey, and would require a written declaration from an out-of-state agency before sharing. Penalties would be up to $1,000 for a first violation and up to $5,000 after that. (New Jersey Senate Democrats, Feb. 19, 2026; The Signal (TCNJ), Feb. 20, 2026)
12. March 2026 An Assembly committee advanced A4532 (Assemblywoman Mitchelle Drulis), the Assembly version of the reproductive health care limit on sharing plate reader data. (The Assembly Democrats posted the news March 11, 2026.) (New Jersey Assembly Democrats, March 11, 2026)
13. March 25, 2026 Gov. Mikie Sherrill signed the Privacy Protection Act (A4070, P.L.2026, c.4), with its plate-reader provisions effective immediately. Government entities may not sell, share or transfer plate-reader data about a person's vehicle except to another government entity where the law allows, under a judicial order or warrant, with written consent, or to police in another jurisdiction for a criminal investigation. In that last case the receiving agency must certify that it will not use the data for civil immigration enforcement and will not pass it on or make it searchable. Agreements with out-of-state agencies are public records, and the Attorney General can order sharing stopped with an agency that breaks them. Senate Democrats said she also signed A4071, which writes Immigrant Trust Directive limits on cooperation with federal immigration authorities into law. (State of New Jersey (posted by NJ Treasury, Division of Pensions), March 25, 2026; New Jersey Senate Democrats, March 26, 2026)
14. July 2026 Sen. Michael Testa Jr. said he would introduce a bill writing limits on collecting, keeping and sharing plate reader data into state law, in place of reliance on the 2022 directive. No text had been released when New Jersey Globe reported it July 31, 2026. (New Jersey Globe, July 31, 2026)
15. Sept. 14, 2026 A5483 (Assembly members David Bailey Jr., Annette Quijano and Cody Miller) was introduced. It would bar private individuals and businesses from using plate readers, though a state entity could hire a vendor to install one. State entities could use readers only for parking, access to secured areas and toll collection, and police could also check plates against a restricted be-on-the-lookout list. Data would be deleted within two days unless an exception applies, and only the Attorney General could share data out of state, under a warrant or court order. (New Jersey Legislature, Sept. 14, 2026)
16. Oct. 15, 2026 A5637 (Assemblyman Joe Danielsen) was introduced. It would require deletion within 90 days, a judicial warrant before searching a person or vehicle seen at two or more locations, and a court order, warrant or federal requirement before giving data to out-of-state or federal agencies, with notice to the people affected. (New Jersey Legislature, Oct. 15, 2026)

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