AUTOMATED LICENSE PLATE READER - TRANSPARENCY PAGE

OVERVIEW

On February 4, 2019, United States Postal Service worker, Tamara Clayton, was traveling on I-57 and Cicero Avenue when she was fatally shot. This unfortunate expressway shooting sparked a movement within the community, Illinois State Police (ISP), Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), local police agencies, and the Governor's office. On January 1, 2020, the Tamara Clayton Expressway Camera Act was enacted. IDOT provided the ISP with a grant to purchase automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras and equipment to help investigate expressway shootings. The cameras are authorized to be used in the investigations of offenses involving vehicular hijackings, aggravated vehicular hijackings, terrorism, motor vehicle theft, or any forcible felony, including, but not limited to, offenses involving the use of a firearm; to detect expressway hazards, and highway conditions; and to facilitate highway safety and incident management. By December 2022, the initial IDOT grant will result in approximately 300 cameras being installed on every expressway within Cook County (I-90 Kennedy, I-290 Eisenhower, I-55 Stevenson, I-94 Dan Ryan, the Bishop Ford, and I-57). Each of these cameras are strategically located in high violent crime areas where shootings, aggravated vehicular hijackings, or firearm trafficking have occurred.

Due to the program's success, on June 6, 2022, Governor J.B. Pritzker signed an extension of the Tamara Clayton Act, allowing cameras to be installed in 21 more counties in Illinois and Lake Shore Drive in Chicago. An additional $20 million will be used from the Road Fund within IDOT to purchase more cameras and equipment. The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority has partnered with the ISP to buy and install ALPRs in strategic tollway locations. The Illinois Tollway Authority has proposed 14 additional locations in Cook, Kane, Lake, Will, DuPage, Dekalb, and Lee counties. These purchases are outside any grant funding provided by IDOT.

Within 90 days after the effective date (6/3/22) of this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly, the ISP is required to provide details about the program objectives, counties where the program is operational, and policies under which the program operates shall be made publicly available and posted online. This page and the data within are to satisfy those requirements.

TAMARA CLAYTON 2.0

On December 14, 2022, ISP and IDOT entered into an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) to reference the expansion of the Tamara Clayton Act. This IGA specifies each agency's roles in the Illinois’ ALPR project expansion. As directed by the Illinois State Legislature, IDOT is providing $22.5 million dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, from the Illinois Road Fund to assist ISP in implementing this expansion. This expansion of the Tamara Clayton Act has been labeled Tamara Clayton 2.0. Throughout December 2022, the ISP collaborated with local police agencies to identify strategic locations where ALPRs will be installed. Future ALPRs will be installed on Illinois expressways and along State highways throughout Illinois. This IGA expires on December 31, 2025.

HOW ALPR'S WORK

An ALPR is designed to capture an image of a vehicle's license plate. The software then compares the license plate number against law enforcement databases such as the National Crime Information Center (NCIC), the Law Enforcement Agency Data System (LEADS), the Department of Homeland Security, and the Illinois Secretary of State (SOS), and National Amber Alerts. An ALPR "alert" occurs when a vehicle's license plate number has been positively compared with vehicles listed in the databases above.

PROGRAM

ISP will manage the program from a deployment perspective, while IDOT will provide funding and procurement assistance. Currently, ISP utilizes the Vigilant Solutions LEARN ALPR system. The ALPR system, software, associated databases, and data will be the sole property of the ISP and are intended for use in law enforcement and public safety functions. ISP's initial focus will be the expressways, followed by the state highway system. Initial deployments will focus on the routes identified through data where violent crimes occur or are principal arterial routes to and from these locations. ISP will solicit location requests from local law enforcement partners and make the final recommendations for where to deploy ALPR units. ISP will allow data-sharing to local law enforcement partners through agreements. Any law enforcement agency entering an agreement will be subject to the same standards as ISP. ISP will use the following, but not limited to, criteria to determine locations:

Violent crime statistics
Traffic volume and patterns
Suitable infrastructure

On January 9, 2023, the ISP executed a one-year contract with Vetted Security Solutions, thus making Vetted Security Solutions the primary vendor for Tamara Clayton 2.0. The ISP, IDOT, and Vetted Security Solutions will work together to install ALPRs in the twenty counties outside of Cook County, as outlined in the Tamara Clayton Act. The vendor will install all ALPR Systems in accordance with IDOT policies.

OBJECTIVES

ISP program objectives include but are not limited to:

Aiding criminal investigations and prosecutions of felonious crimes involving vehicles.
Reducing violent crime through intelligence-led patrols and investigations, including gun violence on interstates.
Managing the program for the state and local law enforcement partners by placing cameras and collecting, analyzing, and disseminating qualifying criminal ALPR information within Illinois.
Ensure appropriate use of ALPR systems. ISP officers have been trained to access and use of LEARN from Vigilant. ISP has developed an ISP Directive dictating the use of the ALPRs and identified a statewide coordinator to ensure continuity of the systems implementation.
Tracking the cost of camera installation by county; the cost of ongoing maintenance of the camera systems by county, including electrical and data transfer costs; the number of inquiries where the investigation involves qualifying criminal offenses; and the number of incidents in which law enforcement searched the stored data for qualifying criminal offenses.
Identifying strategic locations based on high violent crime areas, which include shootings, aggravated vehicular hijackings, and firearm trafficking.

PRIVACY SAFEGUARDS

Access and use of the ALPR data shall be for law enforcement purposes only and in compliance with all applicable training, laws, and administrative rules.
ALPR reads, the capture of digital images or license plates and vehicles with associated metadata (date, time, GPD coordinates with vehicle image capture), will be maintained within the LEARN storage platform for 90 days. Information obtained from the ALPR system, software, associated databases, and data shall not be disseminated to the public except as authorized or required by law.
Information obtained from the ALPR system, software, associated databases, and data may be disseminated to other law enforcement agencies or officers only to be used for law enforcement or public safety functions.
The LEARN system meets or exceeds the standards set forth by the Department of Justice for the security and transmission of law enforcement data Vigilant Learn Security and Compliance MemorandumOpens in new window