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October 16, 2026 · Rhode Island · State action

Rhode Island's 60-day pause on new license plate reader installations ends Monday as State Police finish statewide rules

Gov. Dan McKee's two-month pause on new automated license plate reader (ALPR) installations, ordered Aug. 18 along with a 60-day review by the Rhode Island State Police and Department of Public Safety, is set to expire Monday, Oct. 19, 2026, Rhode Island Current reported. A State Police spokesperson said officials were making final edits to new policies for the technology, which may be announced the same day. McKee told WPRI on Friday, Oct. 16 that he expects a State Police briefing on the review Monday and imagines some form of legislation will follow, with the public able to weigh in then; State Police declined to give WPRI further details. In an Oct. 9 letter to State Police Col. Darnell Weaver, the ACLU of Rhode Island, the Alliance to Mobilize Our Resistance, the state Office of the Public Defender and Planned Parenthood of Southern New England said the review had not sought meaningful public input. They asked that ALPR use be limited to purposes such as stolen vehicles, missing or wanted people and violent-felony or domestic-violence investigations; for short data retention and limits on sharing; for local approval and public comment before cameras are installed; for public audit logs; and for bans on using the data to track health care visits, constitutionally protected activity or immigration enforcement. The executive director of the Rhode Island Police Chiefs Association told Rhode Island Current the groups' concerns were already known to the working group and opposed limiting camera use to specific serious crimes.

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