CEDARBURG, Wis. — The City of Cedarburg has installed automated license plate reading cameras at 13 intersections across the city.
The cameras, made by Axon, are mounted at high-traffic intersections and work by scanning license plates as vehicles pass.
Police use the data in two ways: building a "hot-list" that generates live alerts when a wanted plate is detected, or running historical searches to identify known criminals connected to specific incidents.
Watch: New license plate cameras installed in Cedarburg:
Cedarburg Police Chief Mike McNerney said they've been working to get the cameras for years. He says Cedarburg is one of the last municipalities in Ozaukee County to adopt the technology.
"We had the ATM robbery. We had big burglaries, so we said this is the time to really push hard on it," McNerney said. "(The data) gets expunged every 90 days. We can't go back and look that up. We're not just gonna track people. We're using it for a specific reason."
Cedarburg neighbor Rich said he welcomes the cameras given their widespread use in other cities.
"I think it's a great idea. This is a step in the right direction and just a good use of the technology."
Resident Robert Dittmer acknowledged privacy concerns but said he believes the benefits outweigh the risks.
"Of course, privacy is always a concern, but I'm not sure we really have any privacy anymore, so I do feel like it's good to have some things that are going to be able to apprehend people who are actually committing crimes," Dittmer said.
The technology has faced scrutiny elsewhere in Wisconsin. Earlier this year, TMJ4 reported on issues with a similar system in Milwaukee, where an officer is now charged with using the technology to track his partner and ex-partner.
"I have read about that incident in Milwaukee. It's well publicized, and that shows there is accountability," Dittmer said. "It seems like a tool that uses technology in a good way so far."
The Cedarburg Police Department is also working to launch a transparency webpage that will detail when, how, and why the search feature is used.
"I 100 percent understand that," McNerney said. "I want to protect everyone's civil rights. I think this is a good trade-off."
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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