The Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) confirmed in September 2026 that it has purchased four new cameras designed to capture the license‑plate numbers of vehicles travelling on city streets. The addition brings the total number of such devices in the police fleet to an undisclosed figure.
Each unit records the alphanumeric sequence displayed on a vehicle’s plate as it passes within the camera’s field of view, storing the data for later analysis by police investigators. The system is intended to support traffic enforcement, locate stolen vehicles and assist in investigations that involve vehicle identification.
The technology mirrors that employed by the private‑sector firm Flock, which offers similar automatic‑number‑plate‑recognition (ANPR) solutions to municipalities and businesses. By adopting equipment comparable to Flock’s, the SPVM aligns its surveillance capabilities with commercially available tools that have become common in North American cities.
Flock has previously attracted criticism for the way its cameras record and retain licence‑plate information, raising questions about privacy and data‑retention practices. While the police service has not commented on those concerns, the similarity of the new devices to those used by the company places the SPVM’s expansion within a broader debate about the balance between public safety and personal privacy.
The SPVM indicated that the four cameras will be installed at strategic locations across Montreal over the coming weeks. Officials said the equipment will be integrated with existing data‑management systems and will operate in accordance with provincial regulations governing the use of surveillance technology.