Articles Tagged: traffic cameras

Move follows policy complaint from Iowa Attorney General’s Office

A bill advancing at the Iowa Capitol would establish new guardrails on the use of automatic license plate readers (ALPRs), aiming to balance law enforcement’s investigative needs with heightened concerns about privacy, civil liberties and data sharing.

The Coralville City Council will reconsider its use of automatic license plate reader cameras after the Iowa Attorney General’s Office flagged the city’s policy that limits the use of the cameras for immigration enforcement.

Many left-leaning states and cities are trying to protect their residents’ personal information amid the immigration crackdown. But a growing number of conservative lawmakers also want to curb the use of surveillance technologies, such as automated license plate readers, that can be used to identify and track people.

Reported cases of violent crime — including murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault — were up slightly in Cedar Rapids in 2025 compared to 2024, but are still low in comparison to the last five years, according to data released Thursday by the Cedar Rapids Police Department.

Live footage from one or more public safety cameras in downtown Cedar Rapids was temporarily accessible to anyone with internet access, according to the security vendor that operates similar technology nationwide.

The Iowa chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union released a report Wednesday outlining the ways that automatic license plate reader cameras, or ALPRs, are being used across Iowa, and urging state legislators to implement regulations regarding their use.

Two Cedar Rapids speed enforcement cameras that the Iowa Department of Transportation approved for use in October will begin enforcement operations again on Jan. 1.

Two speed enforcement cameras in Cedar Rapids that were nixed last year — along with most traffic enforcement cameras around the state — by the Iowa Department of Transportation will soon start issuing citations again after an appeal to the DOT by the Cedar Rapids Police Department was approved more than a year after it was submitted.

The use of cameras by law enforcement to automatically scan license plates and record vehicle information in an online database was limited in Eastern Iowa just a few years ago. But in recent years, the cameras have become a hot button issue on city council agendas across Linn and Johnson counties.

The city of Coralville is moving forward with plans to add automatic license plate reader cameras at several locations in town after the city council approved a policy for their use by the police department.

Around a dozen community members showed up for public comment at the Coralville City Council meeting Tuesday night to share their concerns about resident privacy should the city begin using license plate reader cameras.

Iowa is one of 31 states in the U.S. that requires vehicles to have two license plates displayed while driving — one on the front and one on the back of the car — with very few exceptions.

The Cedar Rapids Police Department recently finished installing 70 stationary license plate reader cameras, which scan license plates and run them through national crime databases to search for missing person alerts, stolen vehicle reports, and arrest warrants.

Also, under a proposed bill, the death penalty could be used for killing a law enforcement officer