Nevada ACLU seeks police license plate scan data

The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada is requesting records in the Las Vegas and Reno areas as part of a national effort to chart police use of license plate recognition systems.

ACLU chief Dane Claussen in Las Vegas said the organization is trying to find out about the government collecting and keeping information about law-abiding people.

Police in Henderson reported successes shortly after installing mobile license plate scanners in several patrol vehicles more than a year ago.

An officer driving on Boulder Highway in June 2011 identified a Chevrolet pickup that was reported stolen in Las Vegas.

Officials said at the time that a federal Community Oriented Policing Service grant paid the $160,000 it cost to install the plate reading system in nine Henderson patrol vehicles.