The Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) announced on Thursday, September 17, that it has taken delivery of four new cameras designed to capture the licence‑plate numbers of every vehicle that passes their field of view. The equipment, supplied by technology firm Flock, expands the police force’s ability to record vehicular movement across the city.
According to the SPVM, each of the four units records licence‑plate data automatically, creating a digital log of every vehicle that drives by the camera’s location. The police department says the system will be used to support investigations and improve traffic enforcement, although specific deployment sites have not been disclosed.
The introduction of the cameras has sparked controversy because they collect licence‑plate information from all passing cars, not only those suspected of wrongdoing. Privacy advocates argue that the technology could lead to mass surveillance of ordinary motorists, while the police maintain that the data will be stored securely and accessed only for legitimate law‑enforcement purposes. No details on data retention periods or access protocols have been released.
The SPVM’s acquisition marks the first time the city’s police force has announced the use of a full‑scale licence‑plate‑reading system. Officials indicated that the four cameras are part of a broader effort to modernise policing tools, but they also acknowledged public concern and said they would monitor the system’s impact on privacy and civil liberties as it becomes operational.