Two or three cameras are mounted on top of a specialized police cruiser. One or two cameras points forward and one points backwards so that an officer can scan cars in multiple directions.
Automatic Licence Plate Recognition System
Our Service uses the Automated Licence Plate Recognition System (ALPRS), which is installed on a police cruiser and used to automatically scan licence plates up to 20 metres away. The system will alert our officers of stolen plates and vehicles, plates registered to suspended drivers, expired permits and other offences.
The information stored in the hotlist is information that is already available to our officers if they were to run your licence plate on the computer in their car themselves; it does not give us access to any new information.
Get a closer look
The London Free Press and AM980 News have published stories on the use of ALPRS in London.
Privacy
The Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (IPC) has released guidelines on the use of ALPRS by police services. This report ensures that our use of this new technology respects your privacy rights recognized under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and that we handle your personal information in a lawful manner. Prior to implementing the ALPRS, we also conducted a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) to assess the potential impact its use could have on your privacy.
Our collection, retention, use and disclosure of any personal information obtained from the ALPRS program is done so in compliance with the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA)
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The licence plate scanner continuously scans licence plates as the officer drives around the city. The officer is notified when there is a hit and will take the appropriate enforcement action. For example, if the hit indicated a licence plate was owned by a suspended driver, the officer would stop the vehicle to determine if the driver of the vehicle was that person.
A hotlist is a list of licence plates that have been identified by our Service, the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) or the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) as being of interest to police.
Why would a plate be added to the hotlist?
A plate can be added to the hotlist for many reasons including, but not limited to:
- stolen vehicles
- stolen licence plates
- expired permits
- no insurance
- if the owner of the licence plate is:
- a suspended driver
- wanted
- missing
- the subject of an open and active criminal investigation
For a complete list of reasons, read the IPC's report
A hit happens when a scanned licence plate matches a plate on a hotlist.
A non-hit happens when a scanned licence plate does not match a plate on a hotlist.
What happens if you scan my licence plate? Is my information stored in your system?
If your licence plate is a non-hit, the officer will not even be notified that your plate was scanned. All information related to a non-hit is deleted.
If your licence plate is a hit, the officer will receive a notification of the hit and will receive basic information about the vehicle and the registered owner such as the make, model and colour of the vehicle, and the name, gender and date of birth of the owner.
The officer must then stop the vehicle and verify all information within the hit before taking any enforcement action. Hit information is retained in accordance with the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA)
Can the scanner take pictures or video of anything else?
The scanner does not record video, and does not save or analyze pictures of anything that is not a licence plate. It cannot be used to detect moving violations, such as speeding, going through a red light or stop sign, and distracted driving. The cameras are angled downward to capture licence plates only, not the driver or any passengers in the motor vehicle.
How many scanners do you have?
We currently have 50 police cars equipped with this technology.
Contact Us
London Police Service
601 Dundas Street
London, Ontario
N6B 1X1
Emergency: 911
Non-Emergency: 519-661-5670