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License-plate readers · Westchester County

Westchester County

Using license-plate readers · 2 agencies documented

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Westchester County Police Department (Department of Public Safety)

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Rekor Systems, Vendor not named in source
Cameras
575
At least 575 ALPRs connected to the system (at least 39 mobile), up from 36 in 2013, per plaintiffs' complaint filed June 9, 2026. AP reported nearly 600.
Contract
Rekor Systems: $35,000 per year (2025 budgeted amount for Rekor Scout access, per complaint) · The complaint also says WCPD spent $30,000 for Rekor Scout plus $44,400 maintenance in 2023, and over $18,000 in 2022. Hardware came from other vendors, including Digital Surveillance Solutions ($92,700+) and A+ Technology & Security Solutions ($68,000+). All figures are plaintiffs' allegations. (Knight First Amendment Institute (court filing), June 9, 2026)
Contract
Vendor not named in source: $751,900 DCJS LETECH grant 2023-2024 (total grant); about $435,263 spent on the ALPR system per complaint · from 2023 · to 2024 · approved by NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services · as alleged in complaint (Knight First Amendment Institute (court filing), June 9, 2026)
  1. June 2026 A county spokesperson first said the county had not received or reviewed the suit. Communications Director Catherine Cioffi later said the county considers its camera use lawful and that the complaint "contains both legal and factual errors." (Associated Press (via WTOP), June 2026; The Examiner News, date not shown)
  2. June 9, 2026 Four drivers (Yukiko Ann Umemoto, Sarah Moore, Leah Nelson, Lora Nelson) filed a class action, Umemoto v. Westchester County, Index No. 65935/2026, in state Supreme Court, Westchester County. Counsel: the Policing Project at NYU, Knight First Amendment Institute, NYCLU and Freshfields. The suit claims the ALPR system violates Article I, Section 12 of the New York Constitution and was never authorized by the County Board of Legislators or the state legislature. It alleges 264,303,687 reads in 2024, about 1.6 billion reads in the database (a 2023 WCPD estimate), retention of at least two years, and access by users at 55 or more agencies, including ICE's Homeland Security Investigations. It also alleges WCPD enrolled in Rekor's Public Safety Network. (Knight First Amendment Institute (court filing), June 9, 2026; Knight First Amendment Institute, June 9, 2026; Policing Project at NYU School of Law, date not shown)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Camera, read and spending figures are allegations in a complaint, not findings. No ruling was found as of Oct. 17, 2026.
  • The complaint places WCPD-connected readers in Yonkers, Mount Vernon, New Rochelle and White Plains, among 37+ municipalities. It does not say whether those cities' own police departments run separate programs.

From agency records.

Yonkers Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Motorola Solutions, Rekor Systems, Vendor not named in source
Cameras
66
66 License Plate Recognition cameras covered by Motorola VehicleManager license fees for Feb. 2026 to Jan. 2027, per the city's Board of Contract and Supply agenda. A May 2025 agenda item covers 74 OpenALPR (Rekor) software licenses; the two counts are not reconciled.
Contract
Motorola Solutions: $18,876 annual license fees (VehicleManager) for 66 LPR cameras · from Feb. 1, 2026 · to Jan. 31, 2027 · approved by Yonkers Board of Contract and Supply Feb. 24, 2026 · Police, Req. 2026-6265; funded from the 2022C city bond issue (equipment replacement). The board's annotated agenda marks all Part I new contracts approved. (City of Yonkers, Feb. 24, 2026)
Contract
Rekor Systems: $28,712 one-time purchase of annual software maintenance for 74 existing OpenALPR perpetual licenses · from 2025 · approved by Yonkers Board of Contract and Supply May 6, 2025 · Rekor Recognition Systems (Police, Req. 2025-9283), for license plate readers at various city locations; General Fund. Listed under new contracts on the May 6, 2025 annotated agenda, marked all items approved. (City of Yonkers, May 6, 2025)
Contract
Vendor not named in source: $125,000 estimated FY2022 spending, 12-month contract · from 2021 · Digital Surveillance Solutions, Inc., to buy license plate readers from various manufacturers; funded from General Fund, capital and federal forfeiture money. Sept. 2, 2021 Board of Contract and Supply agenda. (City of Yonkers, Sept. 2, 2021)
  1. Sept. 2, 2021 A city Board of Contract and Supply agenda listed a 12-month police contract with Digital Surveillance Solutions to buy license plate readers, with an estimated $125,000 in FY2022 spending. (City of Yonkers, Sept. 2, 2021)
  2. May 6, 2025 The board's annotated agenda listed a $28,712 police purchase from Rekor Recognition Systems of annual software maintenance for the department's 74 existing OpenALPR perpetual licenses, used with plate readers at city locations; the section was marked approved. (City of Yonkers, May 6, 2025)
  3. Feb. 24, 2026 The board's agenda listed $18,876 in Motorola Solutions VehicleManager license fees for 66 license plate recognition cameras, covering Feb. 1, 2026 to Jan. 31, 2027. (City of Yonkers, Feb. 24, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Taken from agendas, not minutes; whether each item was approved was not confirmed.
  • The Yonkers agenda pages were read through a fetch tool's summary because the city site blocks direct downloads; figures should be re-checked against the PDFs.
  • The Umemoto complaint (see westchester-police) places Westchester County Police-connected readers in Yonkers; it is not clear whether the city's readers feed the county system.

From agency records.

Statewide

  1. Jan. 2011 DCJS published suggested guidelines for operating license plate readers, written with an LPR advisory panel. They are advisory: agencies are urged to build their own protocols from them, and the model policy leaves the retention period blank for each agency to fill in. The document does not describe a state repository for scan data. (New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, Jan. 2011)
  2. Sept. 25, 2023 DCJS's Law Enforcement Technology (LETECH) request for applications listed fixed and mobile license plate readers as eligible purchases for agencies outside New York City. It set no LPR-specific conditions on retention, sharing or policy; the only model policy it linked was for body-worn cameras. Program size about $50,000,000. (New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, Sept. 25, 2023)
  3. May 13, 2024 Gov. Hochul announced $127 million in DCJS technology grants to 378 police and sheriff agencies outside New York City. License plate readers made up 22 percent of the funding, per the announcement (no dollar figure for LPRs stated). (Office of the Governor of New York, May 13, 2024)
  4. Jan. 8, 2025 A907 (Assembly, Paulin) and S963 (Senate, Hoylman-Sigal) introduced. They would have the Municipal Police Training Council write a minimum-standards ALPR policy covering uses, sharing, retention and training, to be posted by every state and local law enforcement agency. No retention period is set. A907A was amended March 4, 2026, reported April 21 and advanced to third reading April 23, 2026; the Senate site now lists S10419 as its companion. S963 has stayed in the Senate Consumer Protection Committee. Earlier versions date to 2015; the 2023-24 Assembly version passed the Assembly and died in the Senate. (New York State Senate (Open Legislation), Jan. 8, 2025; New York State Senate, Jan. 8, 2025)
  5. April 1, 2026 A10808 (Assemblymember Pamela Hunter) and its Senate companion S9890 (Sen. Michelle Hinchey, introduced April 13) introduced. They would limit government ALPR use to listed purposes, require deletion of plate data within 48 hours with exceptions, bar sharing outside New York State government except in listed cases, require a warrant for private plate data, and give a private right of action with $1,000 liquidated damages. Both remain in committee. (New York State Senate (Open Legislation), April 1, 2026; New York State Senate, April 13, 2026)
  6. May 15, 2026 S10419 (Sen. Kristen Gonzalez) introduced, a Senate version of the Municipal Police Training Council minimum-standards approach; referred to Consumer Protection. (New York State Senate, May 15, 2026)
  7. June 4, 2026 A563A (Paulin) / S10227 (Cooney) passed the Senate 60-0, having passed the Assembly Jan. 12, 2026. It requires non-law-enforcement and non-government users of ALPRs to adopt and post a policy based on a Department of State standard. It does not cover police. The legislature's site showed no delivery to the governor, signature or veto as of Oct. 17, 2026. (New York State Senate (Open Legislation), Jan. 8, 2025; New York State Senate, May 7, 2026)
  8. July 11, 2026 DCJS opened a new round of about $75 million in LETECH grants (part of a $100 million package) for agencies outside New York City, with license plate readers among eligible purchases, per Hoodline. Applications were due Sept. 2; contracts are expected to run Jan. 1, 2027 through Dec. 31, 2028. Spectrum News reported $100 million available this year. (Hoodline, July 11, 2026; Spectrum News 1, Aug. 10, 2026)
  9. Aug. 25, 2026 The Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.) and LatinoJustice PRLDEF released a report using Flock audit logs. It found New York officers had logged Flock searches with reasons such as "Immigration (civil/administrative)" or "Wanted by ICE." Nassau County police, Beacon, Glen Cove and Cheektowaga were named for explicit immigration-related searches. State Police, the New York State Intelligence Center and Lancaster police were named for search patterns the authors read as possible undisclosed immigration searches. Recommendations: a statewide 48-hour retention limit, search documentation sent to the Attorney General, searches limited to felonies, stolen vehicles and missing persons, and no sharing with ICE. (StateScoop, Aug. 25, 2026; Surveillance Technology Oversight Project and LatinoJustice PRLDEF, date not shown)
  10. Aug. 25, 2026 StateScoop reported that the state budget's Local Cops, Local Crimes Act bars local police from formal or informal arrangements to help federal immigration enforcement. It does not name license plate readers; the report's authors argue Flock searches done for ICE could fall under it. The S.T.O.P. report says the Attorney General's Office of Immigrant Trust enforces the law. (StateScoop, Aug. 25, 2026; Surveillance Technology Oversight Project and LatinoJustice PRLDEF, date not shown)
  11. Sept. 15, 2026 WCAX reported that New York has no state law governing ALPR use. North Country legislators from both parties (Assemblyman Michael Cashman, Sen. Dan Stec) said rules are needed. (WCAX, Sept. 15, 2026)
  12. Oct. 5, 2026 Sen. Chuck Schumer sent Flock Safety a letter asking who can search its network, how much vehicle data it holds and what prevents misuse, with answers requested by Oct. 16. No New York agency was named. (FingerLakes1.com, Oct. 5, 2026)

State agencies

New York State Police

Status
Program documented, current use unconfirmed
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
Count not documented
No camera count found; the only record is search activity on Flock's network
  1. March 24, 2025 Per Flock audit logs cited by S.T.O.P./LatinoJustice and StateScoop, a search at the New York State fusion center labeled with a DHS agent reference was followed about an hour later by a State Police officer's search of the same plate, logged as "Investigation." (StateScoop, Aug. 25, 2026; Surveillance Technology Oversight Project and LatinoJustice PRLDEF, date not shown)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Shows State Police users can search Flock's network. It does not show whether State Police own or lease ALPR cameras. No State Police ALPR policy or contract was found; FOIL needed.
  • StateScoop says Executive Order 170 bars state agencies from helping federal civil immigration enforcement, including through license plate readers.

Secondhand report; not yet confirmed with the agency.

New York State Intelligence Center (state fusion center)

Status
Program documented, current use unconfirmed
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
Count not documented
No camera count; search activity only
  1. March 24, 2025 Flock audit logs show a search at the fusion center labeled "SWB 25-03-01 DHS Agent," per StateScoop's account of the S.T.O.P. report. (StateScoop, Aug. 25, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Newburgh's police chief limited the state Crime Analysis Center's access to the city's Flock data on April 14, 2026 (see newburgh-police). The Crime Analysis Center network and the Intelligence Center are separate entities; this was not verified further.

Secondhand report; not yet confirmed with the agency.