Denver city leaders have updated the city’s map showing the locations of its automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras after a concerned citizen noticed several of Denver’s cameras weren’t properly reflected.
“When we switched and signed a contract with Axon, I saw that there were several intersections listed where the cameras were going to be going up, and so around the time they were supposed to be going up, I just traveled around to those intersections, and just — I wanted to see what they looked like,” William Beckett, who lives in Denver, said. “At some of the intersections that I went to, I noticed that there were no cameras.”
Beckett said at other intersections, like Evans Ave. and Federal Blvd., ALPR cameras were present but not listed on the city’s website.
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“I saw four Axon cameras and their solar panels up, one on each traffic light, and I was just baffled that they had gone up somewhere where DPD and the city had said that they were not supposed to be,” Beckett said. “Minutes later, I emailed City Councilor Kevin Flynn.”
The intersection is in Councilmember Flynn’s district.
Emails between Beckett and Flynn reveal Flynn thought Beckett was mistaken because Denver police assured Flynn there were no Axon cameras at the intersection.
An email from Flynn to Beckett said: “ I emailed your photos to DPD and officers confirmed those are Axon ALPRs. The online map is being updated to reflect this. The confusion arose because the officers who oversaw installation of the cameras filed the original paperwork with the city’s GIS (Geographic Information Systems) team, which showed those cameras were intended to be installed at Sheridan and Dartmouth.”
Denver7 also reached out to DPD, and a spokesperson sent the following statement:
DPD has indeed been working with Mr. Beckett to provide him with answers to his questions regarding the locations of some of our ALPRs. DPD originally identified 14 intersections at which to install ALPRs based on violent crime data, hit and run/injury crash data, and auto theft data. During the location assessment process prior to installation, four of those intersections were deemed not viable due to either permitting issues or the geographic layout of the intersection. This resulted in DPD identifying four alternate intersections intended to cover the same general part of the city as the original four intersections. For background information, 4 ALPRs are installed at each of the 14 intersections in order to cover each direction of travel through the intersection (4 x 4=16 ALPRs)
When implementing the Axon ALPR pilot program, DPD made a commitment to transparency through publishing an online map [experience.arcgis.com] of the 14 intersections in the city at which ALPRs were installed. Regrettably, when the ALPRs were installed at these four alternate intersections, that was not communicated to the city’s GIS (Geographic Information Systems) team for the purpose of updating the online map. Thanks to Mr. Beckett’s outreach, the oversight in not updating the map was realized and corrected. While the department has no plans to move any of the ALPRs, the department has instituted a policy requiring a twice-annual audit of the ALPR map to ensure its accuracy.
Additional context that may be of interest to viewers is that at this stage of our Axon ALPR pilot program, fewer than a dozen DPD personnel have access to ALPR alerts or to run investigative queries in the system for potential leads in criminal investigations.
Beckett said he appreciates the explanation and transparency but thinks there should be more accountability.
“There was no announcement like the operations manual says there should be, and just — it feels like there's not really any accountability,” Beckett said.
Beckett said there also aren’t any city policies prohibiting the cameras from being moved.
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