Everything below is a faithful summary of the ordinance as introduced. Where its own words are the clearest version, we quote them. The full text is in the August 11, 2026 Town Council agenda packet, pages 145–149.
An amendment to Part III of Bridgewater's General Ordinances creating a new chapter, Municipal Surveillance Technology, whose first article covers Automated License Plate Reader Systems. Introduced by Councilor Sean Kennedy, first read August 11, 2026, and referred to the Rules & Procedures Committee by voice vote.
ALPR systems automatically capture vehicle images, plate numbers, locations, dates, times, and travel information, and convert them into searchable records. The ordinance's explanation puts the core concern plainly:
"A single observation on a public road may reveal little, but combining records from many cameras and communities can create a detailed history of a vehicle's movements."
The records are collected without notice or meaningful individual choice, and they live on privately operated platforms whose access, retention, and sharing depend on vendor systems and contracts.
The supporting memorandum adds a point most local debates miss: even a short local retention period doesn't determine whether duplicate records have been shared with or retained by a vendor, another agency, or a broader network. Deleting locally doesn't delete the copies.
Under Section 3, the Town may not, directly or through anyone else:
This applies regardless of who funds it, who owns the equipment, where it sits, or whether it's free. Those clauses matter: "free trials," grants, regional networks, and donated cameras are exactly how ALPR systems typically arrive and persist. The ordinance closes every one of those doors.
Section 4 requires the Town Manager to discontinue use of each ALPR system, deactivate or remove equipment, stop further collection, and terminate or non‑renew related agreements at the earliest legally permissible time. The Town must also request deletion of ALPR data already collected on its behalf and, where reasonably available, obtain confirmation of that deletion, with narrow exceptions for legal holds and records‑retention requirements.
Section 5 preserves ordinary police work:
The distinction the ordinance draws is between incident‑specific police work, which continues unchanged, and routine or automated access to a searchable surveillance database, which ends.
Within 45 days of taking effect, the Town Manager must report publicly to the Council: every ALPR system the Town possesses, operates, or can access; every related grant, contract, subscription, and data‑sharing agreement; the status of discontinuation and data deletion; any legal impediments; and the expected end date of any agreement that can't be immediately concluded.
That report puts the full picture on the public record, likely for the first time.
Yes, and the ordinance says so. It frames the prohibition as a pause while legal standards, technical controls, and public oversight remain unsettled. The Council may reconsider if the law and available protections someday provide, in the ordinance's words, "a clearer and more accountable framework for municipal use."
The ordinance's explanation notes that the technology is expanding faster than legislative safeguards, citing systems in development that associate plate records with signals from phones, smartwatches, and fitness trackers traveling inside a vehicle. Bridgewater can decide before that arrives.