15-21 Automated Licence Plate Recognition (ALPR)

Question 1

What is the Rationale?

Answer 1

The Automated Licence Plate Recognition (ALPR) system is a tool that can support the mission of the Toronto Police Service (Service) to deliver police services in partnership with our communities to keep Toronto the best and safest place to be by:

• enhancing public trust and police legitimacy
• enhancing public and member safety
• enhancing the Service commitment to bias-free service delivery
• providing a tool to facilitate early resolution of complaints; and
• providing improved evidence for investigative, judicial and oversight purposes.

The purpose of this Procedure is to outline the proper use of the ALPR system, in compliance with applicable legislation and Service Governance.

Question 2

Procedure

The ALPR system is designed to increase patrol efficiency and increase detection rates of identified licence plates. Through integration with the

Answer 2

Service’s In-Car Camera System (ICCS), the ALPR system automatically scans licence plates of vehicles within the system’s field of view.

Question 3

The ALPR system can be used in the following ways:

Answer 3

• general patrol, enforcement, and/or justifying a vehicle stop for investigation; and/or
• specific deployment – to fulfill Service operational priorities, including but not limited to
  o divisional priorities to address community-specific public safety issues; and/or
  o in the area of a high priority event such as an Amber Alert or other circumstance where there is an imminent threat of bodily harm or death to any person

Question 4

The ALPR system SHALL not be used in the following ways:

Answer 4

• as a means to track the location and movements of a member of the public in the absence of
  o prior judicial authorization; and/or
  o REASONABLE GROUNDS TO BELIEVE there is an imminent threat of bodily harm or death to any person
• for personal gain; and/or
• for purposes unrelated to the performance of the member’s duties.

Question 5

ALPR Alerts and Hits

The ALPR system has the ability to continuously compare licence plates to Hotlists when ICCS equipped Service vehicles are in service. The ALPR system generates audio and visual alerts to notify a member when a plate is

Answer 5

identified in the detection zone as being a Hit on a Hotlist. There are low, normal and High Priority Hits on a Hotlist and all Hits warrant further investigation.

Question 6

ALPR Alerts and Hits

Any enforcement action in relation to a Hit SHALL be in conjunction with

Answer 6

a member verifying information contained within the Hit.

Question 7

Adding Licence Plates to the Toronto Police Service ALPR Hotlist

The Toronto Police Operations Centre (TPOC) may add licence plates to the Service Hotlist in the following circumstances:

Answer 7

• when the plate is associated to an Amber Alert or missing person; and/or
• for stolen vehicles that are obtained from a carjacking or home invasion; and/or
• when there are REASONABLE GROUNDS TO BELIEVE there is an imminent threat of bodily harm or death to any person.

Manual additions to the ALPR system by TPOC will be removed when the criteria for adding a licence plate to the Service ALPR Hotlist no longer exists.

Question 8

Missed ALPR Hits

The ALPR system is continually and automatically scanning licence plates. This means the ALPR system may be returning Hits while

Answer 8

a member is actively involved in other duties.

Question 9

Missed ALPR Hits

Members are not required to review any ALPR Hits that may have gone undetected due to

Answer 9

the member being actively involved in other duties at the time the Hit initially occurred.

Question 10

Retention, Security and Disposal

All ALPR Read records have a scheduled retention period of _____

All Hit records will be retained for a period of ____. Reads and Hits that convert to evidence will follow the Service retention schedule specific to that case.

Answer 10

one (1) day.

365 days

Question 11

Member

1. When using the ALPR system or its data SHALL

Answer 11

• not use for personal gain
• not use for purposes unrelated to the performance of the member’s duties
• not attempt to modify any of the ALPR hardware or software configurations

Question 12

Member

2. Reads available from a mobile workstation SHALL only be used

Answer 12

• to support investigations where a member observes a vehicle being operated in a manner that, having regard to all of the circumstances, is dangerous to the public; and/or
• in exigent circumstances where a member has REASONABLE GROUNDS TO BELIEVE there is an imminent threat of bodily harm or death to any person

Question 13

Member

3. When access to Service-wide ALPR records is required on the basis of REASONABLE GROUNDS TO BELIEVE there is an imminent threat of bodily harm or death to any person, SHALL

Answer 13

make a supervisory request to obtain that information.

Question 14

Member

4. When access to Service-wide ALPR records is required for any reason other than that which is outlined in item 3 SHALL make a request to the

Answer 14

ALPR Coordinator via email at ALPR.Coordinator@torontopolice.on.ca.

• In circumstances where Read data is being requested, members are encouraged to make the request forthwith.

Question 15

Member

5. When in receipt of a request from a member of the public to have their licence plate removed from a Hotlist SHALL

Answer 15

• notify the ALPR Coordinator via email at ALPR.Coordinator@torontopolice.on.ca if related to the Service ALPR Hotlist, or
• direct the person to the appropriate government agency responsible for the Hotlist (Ministry of Transportation (MTO) or the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP))

Question 16

Police Officer

6. Upon receiving an ALPR alert while on general patrol SHALL

Answer 16

• review the Hit information and confirm the ALPR system has read the licence plate correctly
• verify the Hit information against existing databases or with the originating agency prior to any enforcement action, as applicable (i.e. Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC), MTO, Service records management system (RMS), other law enforcement agency, etc.)
• when conducting a vehicle stop as a result of an ALPR Hit, notify the driver when practicable and if not posing a threat to officer safety
• if the reason that a licence plate is on ALPR is resolved, activate the snooze alert function to reduce the likelihood of another member stopping the driver for the same Hit
• make a memorandum book entry containing the details of the Hit and any actions taken

Question 17

Police Officer

7. Upon receiving a high priority ALPR alert while enroute to a radio call SHALL

Answer 17

• review the Hit when it is safe to do so
• confirm if the ALPR system has read the licence plate correctly
• immediately advise the Communications Operator of a High Priority Hit, once confirmed
• comply with the directions of the Communication Operator or Road Supervisor
• if no direction is given forthwith, take a justifiable action, given all the available information at the time of the Hit
• make a memorandum book entry containing the details of the Hit, if the Hit has resulted in action being taken or being pre-empted from a call

Question 18

Special Constable

8. When using a vehicle equipped with the ALPR system and the system issues an alert SHALL

Answer 18

• review the Hit and confirm the ALPR system has read the licence plate correctly
• immediately advise the Communications Operator upon receiving a High Priority Hit that might require an immediate police response
• only when safe to do so, continually observe the subject vehicle from a safe distance, and update the Communications Operator as required
• not engage in a vehicle pursuit
• discontinue observations when relieved by a police officer or when advised to do so by the Communications Operator or Road Supervisor
• make a memorandum book entry containing the details of the Hit and actions taken

Question 19

Supervisory Officer

9. When in receipt of a request for access to Service-wide ALPR records that is required immediately on the basis of REASONABLE GROUNDS TO BELIEVE there is an imminent threat of bodily harm or death to any person SHALL contact

Answer 19

TPOC forthwith.

Question 20

Supervisory Officer

10. When in receipt of a request to add a licence plate to the Service ALPR Hotlist SHALL contact

Answer 20

TPOC.

Question 21

Supervisory Officer

11. Monitor the divisional radio band, when available, and assist in

Answer 21

determining the prioritization of a Hit and response to calls for service.

Question 22

Communications Operator

12. When notified by an officer of a High Priority Hit received while enroute to another call SHALL determine

Answer 22

if another unit is available to assist.

Question 23

Communications Operator

13. When notified of a High Priority Hit by a Special Constable SHALL

Answer 23

dispatch an available unit where available.

Question 24

Duty Senior Officer – Toronto Police Operations Centre

14. When in receipt of a request for access to Service-wide ALPR information that is required immediately on the basis of REASONABLE GROUNDS TO BELIEVE there is an imminent threat of bodily harm or death to any person SHALL

Answer 24

review the reasons for the request and ensure the information is made available, when the circumstances permit.

Question 25

Duty Senior Officer – Toronto Police Operations Centre 15. When in receipt of a request to add a licence plate to the Service ALPR Hotlist SHALL ensure

Answer 25

* approval is determined in accordance with TPOC unit specific policy * the appropriate additions and deletions are made as soon as practicable

Question 26

Definitions 15-21 Snoozing Alerts means

Answer 26

the practice of temporarily delaying or muting automated license plate recognition (ALPR) alerts to minimize the impact of false or outdated notifications. This will silence the audible tone and not present the visual notification of a Hit. This can be done when reviewing a Hit on the Fleet 3 dashboard.

Question 27

Automated Licence Plate Recognition (ALPR) means

Answer 27

a system capable of automatically scanning the licence plates of vehicles passing within the system’s field of view and, using character recognition software, automatically comparing the image against one or more Hotlists of known licence plate numbers contained within the ALPR system. The ALPR system is a fixed camera configuration, mounted to a police vehicle, capable of alerting the user of a licence plate of interest and, where applicable, information about the driver(s) associated to that licence plate.

Question 28

Exigent means

Answer 28

requiring immediate aid or action to prevent imminent bodily harm or death to any person.

Question 29

High Priority Hit means

Answer 29

missing person, public alert notification (Amber Alert or Alert Ready), wanted person, stolen vehicle or stolen plate alerts cannot be muted by user.

Question 30

Hits means

Answer 30

images of vehicle licence plate numbers and associated data captured by the Automated Licence Plate Recognition (ALPR) system which appear to match a vehicle licence plate number on a Hotlist.

Question 31

Reads means

Answer 31

images of vehicle licence plate numbers and associated data, including time, date, and geolocation of the ALPR camera, captured by the Automated Licence Plate Recognition (ALPR) system where there has not been a Hit or match to a Hotlist.

Question 32

Service Automated Licence Plate Recognition (ALPR) Hotlist

Answer 32

means a Hotlist for the Automated Licence Plate Recognition (ALPR) system, developed and managed by members of the Toronto Police Operations Centre (TPOC), containing manual plate entries.