TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON, N.J.—A resident’s objections to automated license plate readers drew sympathetic responses Sept. 8 from Mayor Peter Calamari and Councilor Michael Ullman, though neither endorsed his call to remove the cameras.
Nicholas Asfar, of Sussex Road, said the township spent about $98,000 last year installing automated license plate readers, or ALPRs, at four intersections. He questioned their crime-fighting value and warned they track drivers regardless of suspected wrongdoing.
Calamari said Asfar must have read his mind: He had just asked Police Chief Arsenio Pecora for state and county reports on safeguards addressing those concerns. He promised to disclose the information once received.
Ullman, describing himself as the “largest proponent of civil liberties” and probably the council’s most liberal member, agreed with “a lot of” Asfar’s criticism and acknowledged possible “overreach” needing attention. But he called for “a balance that we need to find,” with concerns “measured against the effectiveness that the police chief has expressed” in previous council updates.
Ullman recalled Pecora saying ALPR information helped solve a robbery ring operating locally. Pascack Press sought details from Pecora but did not immediately hear back.
Asfar argued that elsewhere, ALPRs have proved “useless for the purpose of law enforcement…but an active detriment to the people these cameras monitor.” Claims they reduce crime “have been debunked time and time again,” he said.
“And to make it worse, these cameras are perhaps the most direct domestic threat to civil liberties today,” he said.
Asfar said cameras record vehicle locations “regardless of whether the driver is suspected of a crime.” He alleged police have used the data “to illegally stalk and make unlawful arrests of innocent people” and share information “across our nation.” He urged officials to consider those harms and promptly remove the cameras.
At the July 13 council meeting, Pecora and Capt. Michael Glock answered camera questions and provided local enforcement figures. Pecora said the cameras worked well except at Van Emburgh and Washington avenues, where one was expected online within a week. Other locations include Washington Avenue and Pascack Road, and Pascack Road and Ridgewood Avenue.
Pecora reported 60 camera-related summonses, citing unregistered vehicles, suspended driver’s licenses and warrants among enforcement matters. Data from other Bergen County ALPRs are stored by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, he said.
The system also assisted burglary investigations, including a December 2025 local home invasion, Pecora said. Four people responsible were apprehended in April 2026 after an extensive township Detective Bureau investigation.
Asked by Councilor Daisy Velez whether residents could access ALPR footage, Pecora said he did not think so, though they could submit an Open Public Records Act request to find out.
He also suggested the data could be subpoenaed.