Automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) technology is being used by many law enforcement agencies, other government agencies, and private entities across the United States. While definitions of ALPR vary, the Virginia Code defines an ALPR system as “a system of one or more high-speed cameras used in combination with computer algorithms to convert images of license plates, vehicles, or a combination of both into computer-readable data" (Va. Code § 2.2-5517). Benefits and concerns exist in relation to law enforcement use of ALPR technology. ALPR technology can aid with law enforcement investigations, such as those involving stolen vehicles and missing persons, increase the speed and efficiency of solving crimes, and may result in fewer citizen encounters. However, concerns continue to be raised about the privacy of individuals’ public movements, transparency of use, data sharing and protection practices, and the disparate impacts of ALPR systems.

During the 2025 Session of the Virginia General Assembly, legislation was enacted that created a new statute to govern the use of ALPR systems by law enforcement. Prior to the passage of this statute, there were no statewide laws, regulations, or policies governing law enforcement agency use of ALPR in Virginia. Virginia’s ALPR statute imposes numerous requirements on law enforcement agencies that use this technology, as well as various reporting measures to ensure that the public and the General Assembly are informed on how this technology is being used. Most of the statutory requirements took effect on July 1, 2025; however, some portions of the legislation had delayed effective dates to allow time for implementation and data collection.

Twenty-five (25) states, including Virginia, have statewide laws regulating law enforcement use of ALPR. No states ban law enforcement agencies from using ALPR. Vermont currently allows ALPR use by law enforcement agencies, but that authorization expires on July 1, 2027, when use will be prohibited. The Policing Project of the NYU School of Law evaluated how states regulate automated license plate readers and scored Virginia’s ALPR statute among the top four states on their “License Plate Reader Policy Scorecard." Further, recent rulings from the Virginia Court of Appeals in a criminal case and the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in a civil case held that the use of ALPR systems in those cases did not violate the Fourth Amendment. Finally, while policy arguments continue to be made about the benefits and concerns surrounding law enforcement use of ALPR, the body of research that rigorously evaluates ALPR system effectiveness across public safety outcomes remains limited.

The Crime Commission was directed to collect data and conduct two surveys on law enforcement use of ALPR as part of the 2025 ALPR legislation and to report its findings by the first day of the 2026 Regular Session and again by November 1, 2026. Survey findings from the 2025 Crime Commission ALPR survey revealed that some Virginia law enforcement agencies were not using ALPR in accordance with the new statute. Further, nearly one-third of law enforcement agencies did not respond to the survey. As a result, the Chair of the Crime Commission sent letters to nonresponding and non-compliant agencies. Additionally, Crime Commission staff developed and published an ALPR checklist for law enforcement agencies and provided presentations at conferences for Virginia law enforcement.

In August 2026, Crime Commission staff conducted its second survey of all Virginia law enforcement agencies to re-assess their use of ALPR. 98% (351 of 359) of law enforcement agencies responded to the Crime Commission’s 2026 ALPR use survey. The response rate to the 2026 survey was substantially higher than the 2025 survey. 54% (191 of 351) of responding law enforcement agencies reported using ALPR technology. However, some survey results may no longer contain the most up-to-date information on current use as Virginia law enforcement agency use of ALPR has been rapidly changing since the survey was disseminated, with some localities ending, suspending, pausing, or re-evaluating their use of ALPR. Therefore, Crime Commission staff did not make a determination as to whether agencies are fully in compliance with every single statutory provision. Last year’s survey findings revealed several areas of non-compliance that were concerning regarding agency policies, data retention, and data sharing. This year’s survey found that far fewer agencies reported non-compliance in these areas, specifically:

? 6 agencies reported not having a policy;

? 7 agencies reported data retention periods over 21 days;

? 1 agency reported continuously sharing ALPR system data with federal law enforcement agencies, however, that agency is no longer using an ALPR system; and,

? 4 agencies reported continuously sharing ALPR system data with other state law enforcement agencies.

Further, while instances of improper ALPR system data sharing and unauthorized ALPR system use were identified, those occurrences have been rare. It is a Class 1 misdemeanor for a law enforcement officer to unlawfully use an ALPR system. Seven (7) charges have been filed in two Virginia general district courts under Va. Code § 2.2-5517(N). All seven charges are still pending due to the recentness of the filing dates. These charges appear related to incidents in James City County and Chesterfield County. Additionally, media reports highlighted incidents of alleged misuse in Richmond City, Henrico County, and Smithfield that did not result in criminal charges, as well as an incident in South Hill that pre-dates when the criminal penalty in the ALPR statute took effect.

Law enforcement agencies must report data under the Virginia Community Policing Act on traffic and other investigatory stops related to ALPR notifications. An analysis of preliminary data (January 1, 2026, to September 30, 2026) found that there were 759 ALPR-related stops involving nearly 800 persons who were subject to investigatory detention based on an ALPR notification. Males comprised the large majority of ALPR-related stops; however, Black males were disproportionately overrepresented relative to their population size in Virginia.

The Crime Commission’s surveys and reports serve as interim updates on the use of ALPR as the statute requires Virginia law enforcement agencies to provide extensive data to the Virginia State Police (VSP) by April 1, 2027. Agencies must also publicly post this data on their agency or locality website. The VSP must publish a statewide aggregate report with all of this data by July 1, 2027, and annually thereafter. The Crime Commission will also report on the use of ALPR systems in July 2027 and each year thereafter for the following five years.

Survey results indicate that some law enforcement agencies are not in compliance with certain components of the ALPR statute. Additional requirements could be added to monitor and enforce compliance, such as independent auditing, enforcement action by the Attorney General, sanctions against officers who misuse ALPR, requiring written data sharing agreements, or explicit prohibitions against using ALPR for immigration and protected health care matters.