Glenwood Springs restricts outside access to police license plate reader data

Glenwood Springs has blocked external law enforcement agencies from accessing data collected by the city’s license plate reader cameras — a move city officials say is intended to address privacy concerns raised recently by residents and City Council.

The change took effect Feb. 11 following a review of the city’s data-sharing practices related to the Flock automated license plate reader system, according to a news release issued on Wednesday.

Installed beginning in late 2022, the cameras are positioned at major entry and exit points throughout Glenwood Springs and are used to identify license plates and vehicle characteristics tied to crimes and active alerts. They operate separately from the city’s automated speed enforcement cameras implemented in October 2025, which are used to issue speeding citations.

The city currently operates 21 Flock cameras positioned throughout Glenwood Springs, including along Interstate 70, Midland Avenue, Grand Avenue, Colorado Highway 82 and U.S. Highway 6, as well as near several roundabouts and bridge crossings.

The update comes after Glenwood Springs City Council discussed the cameras during its Feb. 5 work session and raised questions about how data is accessed, shared, and stored. City officials said the system has now been modified to disallow access by all outside law enforcement agencies, regardless of location.

The potential for license plate data to be used by federal agencies such as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement emerged as a major concern during council’s Feb. 5 work session. Council members questioned whether the cameras could be used to locate undocumented immigrants or shared with federal authorities — concerns that prompted the city’s review of data-sharing policies.

“There is no question that these cameras provide a public safety benefit by helping us locate criminals we otherwise might not find,” City Manager Steve Boyd said in the release. “However, we want to be responsive to feedback and growing privacy concerns from members of the community and City Council. As a result, we have taken steps to ensure stricter data control.”

Under the new configuration, the system will operate only as an internal alert network for the Glenwood Springs Police Department. Cameras will notify local officers when a stolen vehicle or license plate tied to a suspect passes one of the city’s cameras. Those alerts rely on entries in statewide and national law enforcement databases such as the Colorado Crime Information Center and the National Crime Information Center, according to the release.

City officials said the changes ensure data collected by Glenwood Springs cameras remains local and is not accessible to outside agencies. The city owns all data collected through its contract with Flock and is pursuing additional contract language to further clarify and restrict how the information can be used or shared, according to the release.

Over the past several months, the city has incrementally tightened access to the system. In October 2025, the city disabled the system’s search feature. In January 2026, following a department-initiated audit, Glenwood Springs police disabled the lookup feature — preventing out-of-state agencies from using search or lookup functions. As of February, all outside agency access has been fully-restricted, according to the release.

“These updated measures ensure that our community’s data is not part of a national or state database accessible by outside entities,” Boyd said in the release. “Our focus is on immediate local public safety needs, while safeguarding the privacy of our residents. Most importantly, our aim is to protect and serve our community with integrity, honor and compassion.”.

According to the release, the city will also publish the results of recent Colorado Open Records Act requests showing when outside agencies inquired about Glenwood Springs license plate data. While most searches were routine, some referenced immigration enforcement and federal agencies including Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Border Patrol, and the Department of Homeland Security, according to the release.

Glenwood Springs police have conducted no searches related to immigration enforcement, according to the release. All CORA requests and results since June 2023 are available on the city’s website for public review.