United States, New York City
New York City Police Department
Licence plate readers (stationary and vehicle-mounted), supplied by Leonardo Elsag
OperationalOfficial publicationPAI-EF645294
- Body
- New York City Police Department
- Country
- United States
- Area
- New York City
- Technology
- Licence plate readers (stationary and vehicle-mounted)
- Supplier
- Leonardo Elsag
- Status
- Operational
In routine use by the named body, on the evidence of a public source. - Stage
- In use now
- Since
- Not known
- Legal basis
- Not stated in the source
- Oversight
- Published as an impact and use policy under the POST Act, updated 4 February 2026, which describes supervisor inspections, Integrity Control Officer and audit arrangements.
- Evidence
- Official publication
Police force, government department or public body publication - Source
- NYPD, License Plate Readers Impact and Use Policy, 4 February 2026
- Last checked
- Record code
PAI-EF645294
Notes
The NYPD's licence plate reader impact and use policy says the department uses two kinds of readers, 'stationary and mobile', the mobile units being attached to NYPD vehicles, and that they are 'manufactured by Leonardo Elsag'. Scanned plates are checked against lists of plates of interest, for example stolen or wanted vehicles, and officers can set alerts for full or partial plate numbers. The policy says plate data is retained for five years and does not state how many readers are in use. It describes an internal processor converting the plate image to text and does not describe artificial intelligence or machine learning; its revision summary records that an earlier statement that licence plate readers do not use artificial intelligence or machine learning was removed. The policy gives no start date.
Other systems used by New York City Police Department
| Deployment | Country | Supplier | Since | Status | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York City Police DepartmentDrone as First Responder | United StatesNew York City | Skydio | 2024 | Operational | |
| New York City Police DepartmentAutonomous security patrol robot (Knightscope K5) | United StatesNew York City | Knightscope | 2023 | Discontinued | |
| New York City Police DepartmentAI weapons detection screening | United StatesNew York City | Evolv Technology | 2024 | Discontinued | |
| New York City Police DepartmentRetrospective facial recognition (probe image against arrest and parole photographs) | United StatesNew York City | Dataworks Plus; Idemia | 2011 | Operational | |
| New York City Police DepartmentShotSpotter acoustic gunshot detection | United StatesNew York City | SoundThinking (ShotSpotter) | 2015 | Operational | |
| New York City Police DepartmentPatternizr crime pattern matching | United StatesNew York City | — | 2016 | Operational |
Licence plate readers (stationary and vehicle-mounted) elsewhere in United States
See them in the tracker| Deployment | Country | Supplier | Since | Status | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Police DepartmentANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) | United StatesCalifornia | Axon | 2026 | Trial | |
| US Customs and Border ProtectionPredictive Intelligence Program: licence plate reader networks with a travel-pattern algorithm | United StatesBorder Patrol: southwest and northern borders and interior highways | — | — | Operational | |
| US Immigration and Customs EnforcementLicence plate reader data: commercial database queries and AI plate capture and analysis | United StatesNationwide (Enforcement and Removal Operations and Homeland Security Investigations) | Motorola Solutions (per the DHS inventory); West Publishing (Thomson Reuters) for commercial plate data, per Biometric Update | — | Operational | |
| US Customs and Border ProtectionLand Border Integration: licence plate and occupant face recognition at land ports (Rekor) | United StatesLand ports of entry | Rekor | 2021 | Operational | |
| US Customs and Border ProtectionAirship Outpost identification of conveyances | United StatesNationwide | Airship | 2023 | Operational | |
| Federal Bureau of InvestigationLicence plate readers (three inventory entries) | United StatesNationwide | — | — | Operational | |
| Drug Enforcement AdministrationLicence plate readers (DEASIL programme and state, federal and commercial partner data) | United StatesNationwide | — | — | Operational | |
| Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and ExplosivesAccess to ELSAG licence plate readers run by HIDTA partners | United StatesNationwide | Leonardo US Cyber and Security Solutions LLC | — | Operational | |
| Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and ExplosivesThomson Reuters Vigilant Vehicle Manager | United StatesNationwide | Motorola | — | Operational | |
| Criminal Division, US Department of JusticeThomson Reuters CLEAR licence plate recognition | United StatesNationwide | Thomson Reuters | — | Operational | |
| US Department of Justice Office of the Inspector GeneralAccess to the Nlets Nationwide Licence Plate Reader Pointer Index | United StatesNationwide | Thomson Reuters | — | Operational | |
| Baltimore Police DepartmentAxon licence plate readers | United StatesBaltimore, Maryland | Axon | — | Proposed |