New National Survey: Despite Opposition, 6 in 10 Would Keep License Plate Reader Programs Rather Than End Them, and 58% Say Safeguards Would Increase Their Support

Eighty-eight percent find it acceptable to use the cameras to locate missing or abducted children and 84% to investigate violent crimes, while fewer than 30% accept their use for general crime prevention, traffic enforcement, immigration enforcement, or monitoring protests

ARLINGTON, Va., Sept. 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- A new National Policing Institute (NPI) survey of 1,435 U.S. adults found that 54.4% oppose police automated license plate reader (ALPR) programs in their community, compared with 34.6% who support them and 11.0% who are undecided. Opposition exceeds 40% across political groups large enough to report, indicating that concerns span the political spectrum, though the level of opposition differs among groups.

The survey, conducted using a census-matched online sample weighted to U.S. Census Bureau demographic benchmarks, is the first independent national survey to examine how the public views ALPR use by purpose, how those views differ across demographic groups, and what agencies could do to improve public trust and support.

"While concerns about broad, unchecked use of these technologies are understandable, decisions about their future in public safety should be grounded in facts, not fear. Our survey finds that not everyone rejects the technology outright, though the public is very clear about the limits of its consent, in specific terms. The findings should reframe how agencies acquire, deploy, and oversee the technology, including the need for strong checks and balances and clear accountability," said Jim Burch, President of the National Policing Institute.

Purpose, not technology, drives public opinion

The survey found that acceptability of ALPR use varies widely by purpose. 88.3% of respondents said using the cameras to find missing or abducted children is acceptable, 83.6% said the same for investigating violent crimes, and 81.0% said the same for recovering stolen vehicles. Acceptability drops sharply for broader uses: 26.4% for immigration enforcement, 25.8% for routine traffic or parking enforcement, and 17.7% for monitoring protests or political gatherings, a 70.6-percentage-point spread between the most and least acceptable uses.

Governance, not messaging, moves public confidence

The survey also tested whether public messaging could shift opinion. Respondents were shown short, accurate, one-sided statements emphasizing either public safety benefits or privacy risks before the final policy questions; neither meaningfully changed opinion. By contrast, 57.5% of respondents said their support for a local ALPR program would increase if their department adopted safeguards they personally selected, compared with 2.9% who said it would decrease.

Other key findings

• 53% of respondents said ALPR data not connected to a crime should not be kept for more than 30 days, and 20% of those respondents would delete it within 24 hours. A separate 21% of all respondents said the data should not be collected at all.
• Opposition persists even among people who rate their own local police highly: 31.6% of respondents who rated their department in the top third on fairness and respect still opposed ALPR use, though opposition in this group is lower than among respondents who rated their department less highly.
• Age was the strongest demographic divide measured, with opposition falling from 67.6% among respondents aged 25 to 34 to 40.6% among those 65 and older.
• Concern that ALPR data could reach or be accessed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) produced the widest political gap of any measure in the survey, splitting very liberal and conservative respondents by 71.6 percentage points.

About the study

The survey was conducted by the National Policing Institute in September 2026 among 1,435 U.S. adults using a census-matched online sample, weighted to U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey margins on age, sex, and race or ethnicity. Because the sample is opt-in rather than a random probability sample, no conventional margin of error is reported; confidence intervals for individual estimates are available in the full technical report. The findings are detailed in a new public-opinion brief, What the Public Thinks About License Plate Readers: Findings from an Independent National Survey. This survey complements NPI's prior guidance to agencies, "ALPR Backlash: What Agencies Need to Know" (August 27, 2026).

About the National Policing Institute

The National Policing Institute is an independent and nonpartisan nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing policing practices through science and innovation. NPI conducts research and provides technical assistance and training to help law enforcement agencies build public trust while carrying out their public safety mission.

Media contact

Megan Webster

Communications & Marketing Manager

media@policinginstitute.org 

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SOURCE National Policing Institute