New Hampshire Revised Statutes 261:75-b – Use of Number Plate Scanning Devices Regulated
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The use of automated number plate scanning devices, also known as automated license plate readers (LPRs) is restricted to local, county, and state law enforcement officers who shall only use the devices subject to the following conditions and limitations:
I. An LPR shall be installed for the sole purpose of recording and checking license plates and shall not be capable of photographing or recording or producing images of the occupants of a motor vehicle.
II. Authority to obtain and issue LPR devices and to administer a documented training process for acquiring proficiency in their operation and compliance with federal and state regulations and other appropriate legal mandates shall be vested in the head of the state police or the chief of police, director, county sheriff, or other head of a law enforcement agency or his or her designee. Only devices authorized by the head of the law enforcement agency shall be approved for its use by its officers and the devices shall be maintained in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommendations. Such policy or policies shall conform to the requirements of this chapter.
III. Prior to using an LPR, the law enforcement agency intending to use the device shall register it with the department of safety on forms approved by the commissioner for that purpose. The head of the law enforcement agency shall certify that the device meets all the requirements of this section and that the agency has a policy or policies in effect governing its use and a documented training process for the officers that will use it.
IV. The law enforcement agency shall ensure that data entered into the LPR through a hard link or wireless upload on a daily basis for the purpose of making deletions and additions to keep current the lists against which the device is scanning. Officers shall make manual changes to the list during their shifts when they become aware that new bulletins are issued or bulletins are canceled. Partial plate numbers or characters reported as a result of serious crimes may be entered into the LPR in an attempt to identify suspected vehicles used in connection with the crime.
V. LPR operation and access to LPR collected data shall be for official law enforcement purposes only. LPR devices shall only be used to scan, detect, and identify license plate numbers for the purpose of identifying:
(a) Stolen vehicles.
(b) Vehicles associated with wanted, missing, or endangered persons.
(c) Vehicles registered to a person against whom there is an outstanding warrant.
(d) Vehicles registered to persons whose drivers’ licenses, driving privileges, or vehicle registrations are under suspension or revocation.
(e) Vehicles registered to persons suspected of criminal or terrorist acts, transportation of stolen items or contraband, or motor vehicle violations.
(f) Vehicles in violation of commercial trucking requirements.
(g) Vehicles involved in case-specific criminal investigative surveillance.
(h) Vehicles involved in homicides, shootings, and other major crimes or incidents.
(i) Vehicles in the vicinity of a recent crime that may be connected to the crime.
VI. A positive match by an LPR device alone shall not constitute reasonable suspicion as grounds for a law enforcement officer to stop the vehicle. The officer shall develop independent reasonable suspicion for the stop or immediately confirm visually that the license plate on the vehicle matches the image of the license plate displayed on the LPR and confirm by other means that the license plate number is on one of the lists specified in paragraph V.
VII. Prior to stopping a vehicle based on an LPR alarm, the officer shall attempt to visually verify that the number plate on the list matches the digital image displayed on the LPR. If it matches the alarm it shall be accepted and the officer shall initiate a query of the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database.
VIII. Records of number plates read by each LPR shall not be recorded or transmitted anywhere and shall be purged from the system within 3 minutes of their capture in such a manner that they are destroyed and are not recoverable, unless an alarm resulted in an arrest, a citation, or protective custody, or identified a vehicle that was the subject of a missing person or wanted broadcast, in which case the data on the particular number plate may be retained until final court disposition of the case. Captured license plate data obtained for the purposes described in paragraph V shall not be used or shared for any other purpose.
IX. Access to LPR records shall only be allowed on a case-by-case basis, for legitimate law enforcement investigative, prosecution, or audit verification purposes. All inquiries of LPR records shall be recorded for purposes of an audit trail and maintained by the law enforcement agency in the same manner as criminal history logs.
X. To ensure compliance with the provisions of this section or to investigate complaints of misuse of LPR devices, the attorney general or a designee of the department of justice including county attorneys and law enforcement officers acting at the request of the attorney general may examine and audit any LPR device, a server used to store LPR data, and records pertaining to the use of LPR devices maintained by any state, county, or local law enforcement agency and the department of justice may seek an injunction banning the use of LPR devices by an agency found to have used an LPR device or devices in repeated violation of this section and requiring the confiscation of LPR devices if the attorney general deems it necessary to prevent ongoing violations or deter future violations of this subdivision.
XI. A law enforcement agency using an LPR device shall report to the commissioner annually, beginning one year from the date equipment is deployed, the following information compiled for the previous year:
(a) The number of devices in use.
(b) The number of matches made by the LPR devices.
(c) The number of matches that identified vehicles and individuals sought by law enforcement and that resulted in stops of vehicles or individuals.
(d) The number of matches that resulted in searches of vehicles and individuals, releases, arrests, or other outcomes.
(e) Other information requested by the commissioner.
I. An LPR shall be installed for the sole purpose of recording and checking license plates and shall not be capable of photographing or recording or producing images of the occupants of a motor vehicle.
Terms Used In New Hampshire Revised Statutes 261:75-b
- Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
- Citation: shall mean any citation, summons, ticket or other document issued by an arresting officer for violation of a law, ordinance or rule, pertaining to motor vehicle traffic, ordering the arrested motorist to appear. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:10
- Commissioner: shall mean the commissioner of safety. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:13
- Department: shall mean the department of safety of the state of New Hampshire. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:19
- Director: shall mean the director of the division of motor vehicles of the department of safety. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:20
- following: when used by way of reference to any section of these laws, shall mean the section next preceding or following that in which such reference is made, unless some other is expressly designated. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 21:13
- Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
- justice: when applied to a magistrate, shall mean a justice of a municipal court, or a justice of the peace having jurisdiction over the subject-matter. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 21:12
- License: shall mean any driver's license or any other license or permit to drive a vehicle issued under the laws of this state or a reciprocating state including:
I. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:48 - LPR: means a license plate reading device that is mounted to a vehicle, that is attended to and operated by a law enforcement officer, and that uses automated high speed camera and optical character recognition technology to passively read, instantaneously identify against a list or lists, check, send an audible or visual alarm to the operator, and store for a prescribed period of time, a record of each number plate read. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:68-a
- Motor vehicle: shall mean :
I. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:60 - Number plate: shall mean the sign or marker furnished by the director, on which is displayed the registration number or mark of a vehicle assigned thereto by the director, which shall bear on the face thereof a permanent or changeable designation of the effective period. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:68
- Person: shall mean the same as provided in N. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:74
- Revocation: shall mean the termination by formal action of the department or of a court of competent jurisdiction of a person's driver's license or privilege to drive on the ways of this state, or of any other license, registration or permit issued by the department. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:90
- State: shall mean :
I. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:106 - Suspension: shall mean the temporary withdrawal by formal action of the department or of a court of competent jurisdiction of a person's driver's license or privilege to drive a vehicle on the ways of this state, or any other license, registration or permit issued by the department, which temporary withdrawal shall be for a period specifically designated by the department or court and until the reissuance of the license, registration, permit or privilege. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:107
- Vehicle: shall mean :
I. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:122
II. Authority to obtain and issue LPR devices and to administer a documented training process for acquiring proficiency in their operation and compliance with federal and state regulations and other appropriate legal mandates shall be vested in the head of the state police or the chief of police, director, county sheriff, or other head of a law enforcement agency or his or her designee. Only devices authorized by the head of the law enforcement agency shall be approved for its use by its officers and the devices shall be maintained in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommendations. Such policy or policies shall conform to the requirements of this chapter.
III. Prior to using an LPR, the law enforcement agency intending to use the device shall register it with the department of safety on forms approved by the commissioner for that purpose. The head of the law enforcement agency shall certify that the device meets all the requirements of this section and that the agency has a policy or policies in effect governing its use and a documented training process for the officers that will use it.
IV. The law enforcement agency shall ensure that data entered into the LPR through a hard link or wireless upload on a daily basis for the purpose of making deletions and additions to keep current the lists against which the device is scanning. Officers shall make manual changes to the list during their shifts when they become aware that new bulletins are issued or bulletins are canceled. Partial plate numbers or characters reported as a result of serious crimes may be entered into the LPR in an attempt to identify suspected vehicles used in connection with the crime.
V. LPR operation and access to LPR collected data shall be for official law enforcement purposes only. LPR devices shall only be used to scan, detect, and identify license plate numbers for the purpose of identifying:
(a) Stolen vehicles.
(b) Vehicles associated with wanted, missing, or endangered persons.
(c) Vehicles registered to a person against whom there is an outstanding warrant.
(d) Vehicles registered to persons whose drivers’ licenses, driving privileges, or vehicle registrations are under suspension or revocation.
(e) Vehicles registered to persons suspected of criminal or terrorist acts, transportation of stolen items or contraband, or motor vehicle violations.
(f) Vehicles in violation of commercial trucking requirements.
(g) Vehicles involved in case-specific criminal investigative surveillance.
(h) Vehicles involved in homicides, shootings, and other major crimes or incidents.
(i) Vehicles in the vicinity of a recent crime that may be connected to the crime.
VI. A positive match by an LPR device alone shall not constitute reasonable suspicion as grounds for a law enforcement officer to stop the vehicle. The officer shall develop independent reasonable suspicion for the stop or immediately confirm visually that the license plate on the vehicle matches the image of the license plate displayed on the LPR and confirm by other means that the license plate number is on one of the lists specified in paragraph V.
VII. Prior to stopping a vehicle based on an LPR alarm, the officer shall attempt to visually verify that the number plate on the list matches the digital image displayed on the LPR. If it matches the alarm it shall be accepted and the officer shall initiate a query of the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database.
VIII. Records of number plates read by each LPR shall not be recorded or transmitted anywhere and shall be purged from the system within 3 minutes of their capture in such a manner that they are destroyed and are not recoverable, unless an alarm resulted in an arrest, a citation, or protective custody, or identified a vehicle that was the subject of a missing person or wanted broadcast, in which case the data on the particular number plate may be retained until final court disposition of the case. Captured license plate data obtained for the purposes described in paragraph V shall not be used or shared for any other purpose.
IX. Access to LPR records shall only be allowed on a case-by-case basis, for legitimate law enforcement investigative, prosecution, or audit verification purposes. All inquiries of LPR records shall be recorded for purposes of an audit trail and maintained by the law enforcement agency in the same manner as criminal history logs.
X. To ensure compliance with the provisions of this section or to investigate complaints of misuse of LPR devices, the attorney general or a designee of the department of justice including county attorneys and law enforcement officers acting at the request of the attorney general may examine and audit any LPR device, a server used to store LPR data, and records pertaining to the use of LPR devices maintained by any state, county, or local law enforcement agency and the department of justice may seek an injunction banning the use of LPR devices by an agency found to have used an LPR device or devices in repeated violation of this section and requiring the confiscation of LPR devices if the attorney general deems it necessary to prevent ongoing violations or deter future violations of this subdivision.
XI. A law enforcement agency using an LPR device shall report to the commissioner annually, beginning one year from the date equipment is deployed, the following information compiled for the previous year:
(a) The number of devices in use.
(b) The number of matches made by the LPR devices.
(c) The number of matches that identified vehicles and individuals sought by law enforcement and that resulted in stops of vehicles or individuals.
(d) The number of matches that resulted in searches of vehicles and individuals, releases, arrests, or other outcomes.
(e) Other information requested by the commissioner.