Law enforcement agencies across Alabama have been approved to install at least 872 permanent public-safety sensors along roads controlled by the Alabama Department of Transportation, and most of them are license plate readers, according to state records released this month. The records, dated Sept. 15, 2026, show 725 of the approved devices are labeled as license plate readers and another 147 as “public surveillance.” In the southwest Alabama counties of the Mobile-Pensacola region, the list includes 74 approved sensors, with nearly half of them in Baldwin County.
The numbers surfaced as Florida moves in the opposite direction, ordering license plate reader cameras removed from its state highway rights-of-way. And for many drivers, the cameras are easy to miss entirely.
“I Didn’t Even Realize That Was a Camera”
In Prichard, residents shown one of the roadside cameras said they had never noticed it before.
“That’s my first time even noticing that camera. I didn’t even realize that was a camera up there,” Prichard resident Kay Sutton said. “Where is that information going? You know what I’m saying? And they’re just up there to scare people? Is it actually up there to work, or benefit something?”
Another Prichard resident, DeKendra Steele, said she lives nearby and was also unaware of the device.
“I actually live in this area, and I did not know it was one right here,” Steele said. “It makes me a bit nervous, because like I said, you don’t know who’s monitoring you, who have access to your information. You know, who can pull whatever they want to pull. There’s no privacy, and it should be privacy.”
How License Plate Readers Work
Automated license plate readers, often called ALPRs, are cameras that capture images of vehicles as they pass and use software to read the characters on their tags. Each read is typically stored along with the date, time and location where the vehicle was seen, and many systems also save a photo of the vehicle itself.
Law enforcement agencies use the systems in several ways:
- Comparing plates in real time against “hot lists,” such as stolen vehicles or tags tied to wanted people or missing-person alerts, and alerting officers when there is a match.
- Searching stored records after a crime to determine whether a suspect vehicle passed a particular location.
- Locating vehicles connected to Amber Alerts, Silver Alerts or other urgent cases.
Supporters say the cameras help solve crimes and find missing people quickly. Critics, including civil liberties groups, argue that the stored data can reveal detailed patterns of where ordinary, law-abiding people travel, and that it can be misused without strong rules on who may search it, why and for how long it is kept. That tension between public safety and privacy is at the heart of the debate now playing out on both sides of the Alabama-Florida line.
The technology has spread quickly in recent years, in part because newer systems are relatively inexpensive, solar-powered and easy to mount on a pole without wiring. Companies sell networks of cameras to cities, counties, sheriff’s offices, neighborhood associations and businesses, and some platforms allow participating agencies to share searches across jurisdictions. That growth has brought more scrutiny, with national reporting documenting cases of officers misusing plate reader searches for personal reasons, and some agencies around the country pausing or canceling camera contracts.
Florida Pulls Permits, Alabama Records Show 872 Approvals
The Alabama records were requested from ALDOT after the Florida Department of Transportation revoked its permits for automated license plate reader cameras on state highway rights-of-way. Florida cited the rapid growth of the systems, along with concerns about misuse, privacy and surveillance. The Florida order does not ban the technology outright. It applies only to cameras placed in rights-of-way controlled by FDOT.
ALDOT’s response lists approved permanent sensors by agency, road, milepost and GPS coordinates. Of the 872 approved sensors statewide, 725 are labeled license plate readers and 147 are labeled “public surveillance.”
The records leave important questions unanswered. They do not identify the camera vendor. They do not say whether every approved sensor is currently installed and operating. And they do not detail how long agencies keep the information the devices collect.
Placing any permanent equipment inside a state highway right-of-way generally requires permission from the agency that controls the road. That permitting process is why ALDOT, rather than the individual police departments, was able to produce a single statewide list. It is also why the list captures only part of the picture.
The largest single agency on the statewide list is the Birmingham Police Department, with 70 approved sensors. The Huntsville Police Department is next, with 51. The list also includes state and federal agencies, sheriff’s offices and municipal police departments.
The Southwest Alabama Breakdown
Across the southwest Alabama counties of the Mobile-Pensacola region, the records list 74 approved sensors. By county, they break down this way:
- Baldwin County: 35
- Clarke County: 20
- Escambia County: 7
- Monroe County: 5
- Mobile County: 4
- Washington County: 3
- Conecuh County: none listed
Among local agencies in the region, the Gulf Shores Police Department has the most approved sensors, with 13, followed by the Orange Beach Police Department with 12. The Jackson Police Department has nine entries, including one on U.S. 43 in Washington County. The Thomasville Police Department has eight, the Foley Police Department six and the Monroeville Police Department five.
Mobile County’s Four Approvals Belong to State Agencies
Mobile County, the most populous county in the region, has only four approvals on the ALDOT list, and none of them is assigned to the Mobile Police Department. Instead, they belong to the Alabama Department of Corrections and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, or ALEA.
The records also show license plate reader approvals in Escambia County for ALEA, the Department of Corrections and U.S. Border Patrol.
The small Mobile County number does not mean there are few cameras in the county. It reflects only devices permitted in ALDOT right-of-way. The City of Mobile has previously said it keeps license plate reader data for 60 days, and cameras operated by cities and counties on local roads would not appear on the state’s list.
What the List Does Not Show
The ALDOT count is a snapshot of permits approved within state highway right-of-way, not a complete inventory of surveillance cameras in Alabama. It does not include:
- Cameras on city or county roads outside ALDOT right-of-way
- Systems installed on private property, such as at shopping centers, neighborhoods or businesses
- Cameras installed under some other arrangement
That distinction matters. In Gulf Shores, for example, the city announced earlier this year the activation of dozens of Flock license plate reader cameras across the community, far more than the 13 Gulf Shores Police Department approvals on ALDOT’s list. The difference suggests that many cameras in the region sit on local roads or other property outside the state’s permitting process.
Gulf Shores police leaders have publicly defended the city’s camera network, pointing to cases such as locating a missing elderly driver, and the city said it planned to launch an online transparency portal for its Flock system. Elsewhere in the region, the camera question has come up before city councils and in political debate. At an Aug. 12 town hall in Montgomery, former U.S. Sen. Doug Jones, the Democratic nominee for governor, said he could see some benefit to the cameras but did not think there were adequate guardrails, and he urged cities and counties to reevaluate their use of them.
What Drivers Should Know
For residents who want to learn more about how license plate readers are used in their communities, there are a few practical steps:
- Ask your local agency. City councils and police departments can be asked about their camera policies, including how long data is kept, who can search it and whether searches are audited.
- Watch public meetings. Camera contracts and renewals often come before city councils and county commissions for approval, giving residents a chance to comment.
- Use public records requests. Alabama’s open records law allows residents to request many government documents, as the ALDOT list itself demonstrates.
- Look for transparency portals. Some agencies publish information about their camera networks, such as the number of devices, retention periods and search statistics.
Alabama’s public records statute gives every citizen the right to inspect and take a copy of public writings, with certain exceptions, including some law enforcement investigative records. Requests are generally made directly to the agency that keeps the records, and it helps to be as specific as possible about the documents sought, such as a camera contract, a retention policy or a list of approved device locations. Some agencies charge copying or research fees, so it is worth asking about costs up front.
As Florida removes cameras from its highways and Alabama’s records show hundreds approved along its own, the question the Prichard residents raised is likely to keep coming up in council chambers and at kitchen tables across the region: where the information goes, and who gets to see it.