Automated license plate readers operating along Bangor Road in Unity could fall within a broader statewide challenge now being mounted against the technology by the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine and lawmakers seeking a possible ban.
The ACLU has not publicly identified the Unity cameras as a specific target, and it has not announced a lawsuit in Maine. Its campaign is instead focused on obtaining local records, examining how police departments collect and share motorists’ information and supporting legislation that could prohibit most law enforcement use of automated plate readers.
That effort reaches beyond the Flock Safety cameras at the center of controversies in several Maine communities. The equipment in Unity was manufactured by Leonardo, but the proposed ban described by Rep. David Boyer, R-Poland, would apply to automated license plate readers generally, with an exception for toll collection. If enacted as described, the Unity cameras would be subject to the same prohibition. Detailed bill language has not yet been released, and the Legislature is not expected to consider the proposal until after it reconvenes in January.
The Unity devices, positioned to monitor north- and southbound traffic near 38 Bangor Road, automatically photograph license plates and convert them into searchable data. Depending on their configuration, such systems can record a plate number, vehicle image, location, direction, and precise date and time.
Police say the technology can help locate stolen vehicles, identify cars connected to crimes, and find missing or endangered people. A reader can compare plates against law enforcement hotlists and alert officers when a vehicle of interest passes. Stored observations also can help investigators determine whether a vehicle traveled through an area during a burglary, theft or other incident.
Civil liberties advocates focus on the far greater number of records created by motorists who are not suspected of wrongdoing. One observation may reveal little, but data from multiple cameras can create a detailed picture of a person’s movements. The ACLU warns that interconnected systems could expose visits to medical providers, houses of worship, political gatherings and other sensitive locations.
The organization initially requested contracts, policies and communications involving Flock systems in York, Lewiston, Auburn, South Portland, Portland, Falmouth, Brunswick and Sanford. It has said the inquiry will expand to other Maine communities using plate reader technology. Among its questions are who owns the information, how long it is retained, why companies offer discounted or free equipment, and whether local data can be searched by federal agencies or police outside Maine.
Those are also relevant questions in Waldo County. Sheriff Jason Trundy said the county commissioners approached then-Sheriff Jeff Trafton in 2021 or 2022 about purchasing and deploying Leonardo cameras. The commissioners asked the sheriff’s office to facilitate installation, and the cameras were placed at their present location before Trundy became sheriff.
Maine law currently allows county and municipal law enforcement agencies to use plate readers for public safety, criminal investigations and enforcement. It restricts access to legitimate official purposes, makes collected information confidential and generally limits ordinary data retention to 21 days. Information classified as intelligence or part of an investigation can be kept longer. Violating the statute is a Class E crime.
The law means the Unity system is not necessarily operating illegally. Compliance depends on how the cameras are configured, who can search their records, how data are classified and retained, and whether information is shared with other agencies.
Questions remain about whether both Unity cameras are active, who administers the system, whether searches require written justification, how access is audited and how often the equipment has assisted investigations. The county’s sharing arrangements and retention settings also have not been publicly established.
The ACLU’s campaign places those unanswered local questions within a larger statewide dispute. Police view plate readers as force multipliers, particularly in rural areas where officers cover long distances. Critics see a network capable of recording the movements of entire communities without individualized suspicion.
The cameras beside Bangor Road therefore are not separate from Maine’s emerging debate merely because they bear the Leonardo name rather than Flock’s. Although they have not been singled out by the ACLU, they use the same core technology under scrutiny and would fall within the statewide restrictions now being proposed.
This story appears through a media partnership with Midcoast Villager.