Boston Police Department

The City of Boston's 2025 Annual Surveillance Reports say the Boston Police Department began a 'short-term trial' of a Motorola licence plate reader system with about 45 cameras in February 2026 under Special Order 26-03, and that the data 'is searchable by license plate and by vehicle description'. The report gives no end date. The Boston Globe, on 28 August 2026, reported from city records that the Motorola pilot began in January 2026 and that the records do not say when it will end; it says the Motorola policy prevents Boston's data from being easily shared with other cities or states, and quotes a police spokesperson, Mariellen Burns, saying information on the trials is included in the annual surveillance report. The same sources describe a separate short-term trial of an Axon licence plate reader system with about 30 cameras from around 1 June 2026, which is not covered by this record. MassLive, republished by Governing on 22 September 2026, describes both as 'short-term pilot programs' that police are still conducting and reports Councillor Julia Mejia's criticism of continued testing without City Council approval under the city's 2021 surveillance ordinance; the mayor's office told the Globe that councillors approved licence plate readers in a 2022 ordinance that names no vendor. A proposed ordinance amendment filed by councillors on 23 September 2026 says the council had not been formally notified of the Motorola and Axon agreements. No source read shows the trial has ended.