Booneville to Deploy License Plate Recognition Cameras at 35 Locations

The City of Booneville and the Booneville Police Department plan to deploy an automatic license plate recognition camera system in the coming months as part of an effort to improve public safety throughout the city and its parks.

According to the city, the Axon Outpost Automatic License Plate Recognition system, commonly known as ALPR, will be installed at 35 locations. The fixed cameras are designed to automatically read license plates on passing vehicles and provide law enforcement with live video, along with vehicle attribute recognition such as make, model and color.

City officials said the technology is intended to help officers respond more quickly to situations such as Amber Alerts, stolen vehicle reports, wanted suspect alerts and other investigations. The system is also expected to give officers better real-time awareness of activity in specific areas and reduce investigative blind spots.

Officials emphasized that the cameras will not be used to issue traffic citations. No mailed traffic violations will be connected to the system, according to the announcement.

The city said the system reads license plates and is not designed to track individual people. Officials also said data will be handled according to department policies and privacy standards, and that the system is only one tool among many used to support public safety.

The Booneville Police Department already uses other Axon equipment, including Axon Tasers, Axon body cameras and the Axon Fleet dashboard system in patrol vehicles.

Automatic license plate recognition systems have become more common among law enforcement agencies, though they have also raised privacy questions in some communities. Concerns often center on how long plate data is stored, who can access it, how it may be shared and whether there is sufficient public oversight. Booneville officials said questions about the program, technology or data policies should be directed to the Booneville Police Department.

For more information, residents may contact the Booneville Police Department at 662-728-5611.