*Originally published on June 6, 2024
Updated on September 20, 2024:

Over 100 license plate readers have been installed throughout Denver. The Denver Police Department said that more than 100 suspects have been arrested on various criminal charges since this initiative.

The city’s plan to install over 100 license plate readers was announced in January as part of an initiative to reduce auto theft. 

The system captured two million vehicles in the past month while identifying 86,800 cars and license plates on the "hotlist," which flags wanted criminals and recovers stolen vehicles.

In the past five months, the readers sorted through millions of vehicles detected by the system, helping law enforcement arrest at least 142 suspects, recover 11 weapons, and recover approximately 99 stolen vehicles. 

The plate readers were added to about 70 intersections around Denver.

Below is a map of the expected locations of the license plate readers in Denver from January's announcement:

Courtesy of Denver Police Department

"The ALPR network is providing the investigative leads we expected, and we are optimistic about achieving even more positive outcomes like these for our community once the network is fully installed," said Police Chief Ron Thomas in June.

The Denver PD says that these automated license plate readers are used to identify and find cars associated with crimes, including hit-and-runs, stolen vehicles, and those involved in homicides.

Commander Paul Jimenez added, "So when an individual steals a car, we have these license plate readers installed all over the area. Then the officers can then receive an alert through the system indicating where that individual stolen car may be at the time."

The automated license plate readers capture an image of the back of the car, the license plate, make, model, and color. Then, that information is placed into an encrypted database that Denver PD must search. The driver and any passengers are not filmed. Police say no personal information is collected or shared with Immigration and Customs Enforcement or third parties. It's also not used for traffic enforcement.

The database's data is stored for 30 days, except for investigative requests to keep it longer.

In addition, the public will have access to a portal that shows information like the system's policy, statistics on the number of vehicles detected, and the number of wanted vehicles detected.