Automated License Plate Readers

The Dubuque Police Department uses Flock Safety technology to capture objective evidence without compromising on individual privacy. Dubuque PD utilizes retroactive search to solve crimes after they've occurred. Additionally, Dubuque PD utilizes real time alerting of hotlist vehicles to capture wanted criminals. In an effort to ensure proper usage, the below policies are in place and usage statistics are available to the public.

Flock Safety Transparency Portal

In alignment with the Dubuque Police Department's practice of being as transparent with our community as possible, Flock offers communities where their cameras are installed to access a Transparency Portal.  In this portal, anyone can view information on policies and usage of the Flock cameras in Dubuque.  Some specific areas outlined in the portal are items such as: what is and is not detected, accepted and prohibited uses of the data, Hotlist policy, data retention, alerts and detection statistics, and more.

To visit the Dubuque Police Department Flock Security Transparency Portal, visit: https://transparency.flocksafety.com/dubuque-ia-pd

Safety and Security Camera Acceptable Use Policy

The use of Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) technology is governed by a City Administrative Policy.  ALPR's are used by the Dubuque Police Department to convert data associated with vehicle license plates for official law enforcement purposes including identifying stolen or wanted vehicles, stolen license plates, and missing persons.  ALPR's may be used to gather information related to active warrants, suspect interdiction, stolen property, and other crimes.

This Policy outlines acceptable and prohibited use of the ALPR's.  ALPR's shall only be used for official and legitimate law enforcement business; ALPR's shall not be used for immigration enforcement, automated traffic enforcement, harassment or intimidation; usage based solely on a protected class, or personal use; and officers shall visually verify that the license plate and vehicle identifies match the alert.

All data and images gathered by an ALPR are for the official use of the Dubuque Police Department and because the data may contain confidential information, the information is not open for the public view.

Data collected by the ALPR system shall be retained for a period to not exceed 30 days, unless the data has been identified as part of a criminal investigation.

All ALPR data queries must be accompanied by the law enforcement case number corresponding with the investigation.  Without a case number entered, the system will not allow a query of the data.

The City of Dubuque's Administrative Policy governing ALPR use can be found here.

Transparency

The Dubuque Police Department shall maintain a public log of its use, including but not limited to: 

  • specific times of day that any readers actively collected data; 
  • the aggregate number of vehicles or license plates on which data are collected for each period of active use and a list of all state and federal databases with which the data were compared, unless the existence of the database itself is not public; 
  • for each period of active use, the number of vehicles or license plates in each of the following categories where the data identify a vehicle or license plate that has been stolen, a warrant for the arrest of the owner of the vehicle or an owner with a suspended or revoked driver's license or similar category, or are active investigative data; and 
  • for any readers at a stationary or fixed location, the location at which the readers actively collected data and is installed and used

Quarterly Reports

2024 Quarter 4   2025 Quarter 1   2025 Quarter 2  2025 Quarter 3

Camera Locations

  • Intersection of Dodge St. and Locust St.*
  • U.S. 61/151 at Admiral Sheehy Dr. 
  • U.S. 61/151 on the Iowa-Wisconsin Bridge*
  • Intersection of U.S. 20 and the Southwest Arterial*
  • Intersection of U.S. 151/61 and the Southwest Arterial*
  • Intersection of U.S. 52 and John Deere Rd.
  • Intersection of U.S. 52 and the Northwest Arterial*
  • Intersection of Asbury Rd. and the Northwest Arterial*
  • Intersection of U.S. 52 and U.S. 61/151*
  • Intersection of Dodge St. and Bryant St.
  • Intersection of John F. Kennedy Rd. and W. 32nd St.*

* - Locations with multiple plate readers