By MES Dispatch staff
The Briefing
• Austin city leaders said an automated license plate reader (ALPR) system could have helped police locate suspects more quickly after a recent shooting spree.
• The comments followed a weekend of at least 12 shootings across multiple locations in Austin that injured four people.
• Police and the mayor cited a stolen vehicle linked to the suspects being found with ALPR technology by a neighboring department.
• Austin ended its own ALPR program last year amid privacy concerns, but officials say the incident has renewed discussion about surveillance tools.
AUSTIN, TX — Austin city officials are publicly acknowledging that an automated license plate reader (ALPR) system could have aided law enforcement in apprehending suspects in a recent shooting spree that unfolded over a weekend, city leaders said.
The shooting incidents, occurring between May 16 and May 17, involved multiple locations across the city and resulted in four people being injured, authorities reported.
Austin Mayor Kirk Watson and Police Chief Lisa Davis said a stolen vehicle linked to the suspects was located using ALPR technology by the Manor Police Department, a neighboring jurisdiction that still uses the system.
City officials and law enforcement attributed the capture of the suspects in part to the ALPR data, prompting calls to re-examine the city’s decision last year to discontinue its own license plate reader program amid privacy and public concern.
Watson and Davis indicated they are open to broader conversations under Austin’s existing TRUST Act ordinance about how surveillance tools could be governed to balance public safety and civil liberties.
Authorities continue to investigate the shootings, and charges related to the incidents are pending prosecution.