Great Barrington police report 41 searches of license plate database in 15 months

First reported: September 28, 2026 · 1 source

Great Barrington, Massachusetts, has operated three Motorola Vigilant L6Q automated license plate readers since February 2025, capturing plates and vehicle details from traffic on Main Street and Stockbridge Road and at the police station. Interim Police Chief Adam Carlotto told The Berkshire Eagle the department has searched the database 41 times since the system went live and currently maintains 13 plates on a hot list. An Eagle survey of Berkshire County departments found Great Barrington is the only one that currently owns the cameras, though North Adams has purchased four Motorola Vigilant cruiser-mounted readers with a state grant and has requested seven database searches from other agencies, including Massachusetts State Police, this year.

Why this matters

Documented search counts, retention limits, and access controls give residents a rare concrete baseline for evaluating how heavily an ALPR system is actually used. The purchase also shows how federal grant funding can put surveillance technology in place without a local governing body's vote.

Key facts

Three Motorola Vigilant L6Q cameras have been in use since February 2025; data is retained for 30 days.
Great Barrington police report 41 database searches and 13 plates currently on the hot list, per Chief Adam Carlotto.
The $27,970 purchase was funded by a November 2023 Edward J. Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant, so no Select Board approval was required.
Department policy limits access to six trained personnel, requires a case number and investigative reason per search, and prohibits use for immigration enforcement or discriminatory profiling.
Carlotto said the department likely cannot afford the system after the five-year grant contract expires; North Adams bought four cruiser cameras at roughly $15,000 each, with about $750 per camera annually after the grant term.

Sources

This summary was written from the published reporting below and links to it; BlockFlockNow does not reproduce article text.

Great Barrington police scan 20 , 000 cars a day . Their database has been searched 41 times (berkshireeagle.com, September 28, 2026)

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About this record

BlockFlockNow documents reported incidents involving Flock Safety cameras and automated license plate readers: council votes, contract decisions, misuse by authorized users, lawsuits, audits, and community response. Every record is reviewed by a person before publication. New to the topic? Start with What is Flock?, find meetings near you, or learn how to request your town's camera records.

Updated September 29, 2026. Corrections: blockflock@bytebunny.io. See all documented incidents or search the full article archive.