Seattle OIG report finds ALPR misreads and erroneous stops from outdated hotlist data

Seattle’s Office of Inspector General published a surveillance technology usage review covering ALPR deployments in 2021 and 2022. The report found 976 misreads in 2021 and 948 in 2022, approximately one misread for every five unverified hits. It documented two erroneous vehicle stops caused by outdated or misleading hotlist information. In one, a stolen license plate had been swapped onto a similarly described vehicle, leading to a firearms-drawn stop of an innocent driver. In another, officers stopped a vehicle reported stolen but recovered earlier; the recovery had not been recorded. The OIG recommended that SPD develop a deployment strategy that accounts for disproportionality in data collection.