Background
In August 2023, the ACLU of Massachusetts filed a public records request seeking basic information about how the Massachusetts State Police (MSP) uses automatic license plate reader (ALPR) cameras to surveil public roads. MSP withheld key records, including the locations of its cameras and records showing why and how often its officers searched the ALPR database. In November 2023, the ACLU, represented by the law firm Wolf Greenfield, sued MSP to obtain the records.
As the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court recognized in its 2020 decision in Commonwealth v. McCarthy, warrantless use of ALPR cameras to monitor people’s movements and real-time locations can implicate constitutional protections against unreasonable searches and seizures.
Since 2025, communities across Massachusetts have organized against local use of ALPR cameras. They have raised concerns about data sharing with out-of-state and federal law enforcement agencies, and about threats to the privacy and safety of immigrants, political protesters, and people seeking protected health care in the Commonwealth. In response, several municipalities, including Cambridge, Framingham, Greenfield, Natick, and Watertown, have barred their police from using ALPRs.
| Request Submitted To | Massachusetts State Police |
| Category | Surveillance |
| Year Filed | 2023 |
| Number of Documents Received | 11 |
We said…
They said…
Responsive Documents
| # | File Name | File Type | File Size |
| 1 | 2017 Binder – ALPR Documents 2.20.24 | 399 MB | |
| 2 | 2018 Binder – ALPR Documents 2.20.24 | 210 MB | |
| 3 | 2019 Binder – ALPR Documents 2.20.24 | 194 MB | |
| 4 | 2020 Binder – ALPR Documents 2.20.24 | 583 MB | |
| 5 | 2021 Compiled Production of 2021 Emails and Attachments | 99 MB | |
| 6 | 2022 Compiled Production of 2022 Emails and Attachments | 370 MB | |
| 7 | 2023 Compiled Production of 2023 Emails and Attachments | 210 MB | |
| 8 | Index Public Records Request Production | 161 KB | |
| 9 | MSP Response Letter and Responses | 23 MB | |
| 10 | Neology Records | 50 MB | |
| 11 | Training Materials Public Records Production | 15 MB |