APPLETON (NBC 26) — The Appleton Common Council has approved a resolution banning the city from using automatic license plate readers, or ALPRs.
The council approved the measure Wednesday night in an 11-1 vote.
The resolution prohibits the city from acquiring, installing, operating, using or funding automatic license plate readers, with some exceptions.
ALPRs will still be allowed for parking enforcement, controlling access to restricted nonpublic areas and at weigh stations for commercial vehicle regulation. Those exceptions were included in the resolution considered by the council.
Fourteen people spoke before the council on the resolution Wednesday night, all speaking in favor of the ban.
The city previously stopped its use of the cameras over the summer.
Alderperson Adrian Stancil-Martin introduced the resolution. Ahead of the council vote, Stancil-Martin told NBC 26 the proposal was driven by concerns raised by residents.
“This is something the public has been asking of us,” Stancil-Martin said.
Automatic license plate readers capture images of vehicle license plates and convert the information into searchable data. The technology has generated months of debate in the Fox Cities over privacy, civil liberties and how information collected by the cameras can be shared between law enforcement agencies.
The ALPR ban does not end Appleton's discussion over surveillance technology. Alderpersons are continuing to work on a separate resolution that would establish guardrails for the city's use of mass surveillance technology more broadly.
