The paper trail: our freedom-of-information requests

Dear Freedom of Information Coordinator, This is a request for records under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA). The $5.00 application fee is enclosed / has been paid. I request electronic copies of records where they exist in electronic form. Please provide final versions of records; I am not requesting drafts. If any portion of a responsive record is withheld, please cite the specific exemption relied upon and disclose the remainder as required by s. 4(2). If estimated fees will exceed $25, please provide a fee estimate and advise me of fee-waiver provisions before proceeding, as required following the 2026 amendments — I am open to narrowing the scope of this request to reduce fees or processing time. Please note the amended definition of 'record' expressly includes data stored digitally; system configuration values responsive to this request are records in that sense.

I request the following records:

1. Records sufficient to identify the number and locations (street address or intersection) of any fixed (non-vehicle-mounted) automated licence plate recognition (ALPR) cameras installed, piloted, or approved for installation by the Toronto Police Service, from January 1, 2023 to present.
2. The final Privacy Impact Assessment(s) for the ALPR program, including any updates prepared for the integration of ALPR into the in-car camera system completed in 2024–2025.
3. Records showing the currently configured retention periods in the ALPR system for (a) non-hit plate reads, (b) hit records, and (c) associated audit logs — for example, a system configuration export, administrative settings document, or governance procedure stating the configured values.
4. Any agreements, memoranda of understanding, or system configuration records governing the sharing of ALPR data with other police services or agencies, including whether any vendor cross-agency data-sharing features are enabled or disabled.
5. Final audit or compliance reports concerning access to or searches of ALPR data, from January 1, 2024 to present.
6. Records sufficient to identify which initiatives funded under the 'AI Operationalization' line of the 2026 operating/capital budget involve ALPR or licence-plate data.
7. Statistical or aggregate records showing, for the period January 1, 2023 to present: (a) the number of internal investigations, professional standards investigations, or privacy breach investigations involving alleged unauthorized access to, or misuse of, ALPR data, CPIC, or other police databases; (b) the number of substantiated findings; and (c) the disciplinary outcomes by category (e.g., training, forfeiture of hours, demotion, dismissal, criminal charge). To be clear, I am not requesting the names or identifying information of any individual — aggregate counts and severed summaries are responsive to this item. I also request any reports to the Police Services Board concerning misuse of ALPR or database access, and records showing whether and how often proactive audits of ALPR queries are conducted (audit policy, frequency, and the most recent audit report, severed as required).

Thank you for your assistance. I look forward to your response within the statutory period of 45 business days. Sincerely, [Name] [Mailing address] [Email] · [Phone]

Dear Freedom of Information Coordinator, This is a request for records under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA). The $5.00 application fee is enclosed / has been paid. I request electronic copies of records where they exist in electronic form. Please provide final versions of records; I am not requesting drafts. If any portion of a responsive record is withheld, please cite the specific exemption relied upon and disclose the remainder as required by s. 4(2). If estimated fees will exceed $25, please provide a fee estimate and advise me of fee-waiver provisions before proceeding, as required following the 2026 amendments — I am open to narrowing the scope of this request to reduce fees or processing time. Please note the amended definition of 'record' expressly includes data stored digitally; system configuration values responsive to this request are records in that sense.

I request the following records:

1. Records sufficient to determine whether the Halton Regional Police Service currently operates, has piloted, or has approved the acquisition of any automated licence plate recognition (ALPR) technology — vehicle-mounted or fixed — from January 1, 2023 to present, including the number of units and the vendor(s).
2. If any fixed ALPR cameras exist or are approved: records sufficient to identify their locations (street address or intersection).
3. Any Privacy Impact Assessment prepared for ALPR or licence-plate-reading technology.
4. Records showing the configured or approved retention periods for (a) non-hit plate reads and (b) hit records.
5. Any agreements governing the sharing of ALPR data with other police services or agencies.
6. Statistical or aggregate records showing, for the period January 1, 2023 to present: (a) the number of internal investigations, professional standards investigations, or privacy breach investigations involving alleged unauthorized access to, or misuse of, ALPR data, CPIC, or other police databases; (b) the number of substantiated findings; and (c) the disciplinary outcomes by category (e.g., training, forfeiture of hours, demotion, dismissal, criminal charge). To be clear, I am not requesting the names or identifying information of any individual — aggregate counts and severed summaries are responsive to this item. I also request any reports to the Police Services Board concerning misuse of ALPR or database access, and records showing whether and how often proactive audits of ALPR queries are conducted (audit policy, frequency, and the most recent audit report, severed as required).

Thank you for your assistance. I look forward to your response within the statutory period of 45 business days. Sincerely, [Name] [Mailing address] [Email] · [Phone]

Dear Freedom of Information Coordinator, This is a request under MFIPPA. The $5 fee has been paid. Please provide final records in electronic form. If any portion is withheld, cite the specific exemption and sever the remainder (s. 4(2)). If fees will exceed $25, send an estimate first; I will narrow scope if needed. Digitally stored data, including system configuration values, are records for the purposes of this request. I request, from Jan 1, 2023 to present unless stated:

1. Records sufficient to identify the locations (address or intersection) of fixed ALPR-capable cameras installed or approved in Peel Region, including the Brampton intersection camera program.
2. Deployment locations and dates of the portable unit combining acoustic detection, PTZ cameras, ALPR and loudspeaker, from Jan 1, 2025.
3. Final Privacy Impact Assessment(s) for ALPR and for the portable unit.
4. Records showing currently configured ALPR retention periods for (a) non-hit reads, (b) hits, (c) audit logs — e.g. a configuration export or governance procedure stating the values.
5. Agreements or configuration records governing sharing of ALPR data with other police services or agencies.
6. Final audit or compliance reports on access to or searches of ALPR data, from Jan 1, 2025.
7. Aggregate records showing (a) the number of internal, professional standards or privacy-breach investigations involving alleged unauthorized access to or misuse of ALPR, CPIC or other police databases; (b) substantiated findings; (c) disciplinary outcomes by category. No names or identifying information are requested — aggregate counts and severed summaries are responsive. Also: reports to the Police Services Board on ALPR or database misuse, and the audit policy, frequency and most recent report for proactive ALPR query audits, severed as required.

Thank you for your assistance. I look forward to your response within the statutory period of 45 business days. Sincerely, [Name] [Mailing address] [Email] · [Phone]

Narrowed on September 9, 2026, in reply to York Regional Police's clarification letter on file 26-1898. What follows is the live scope; it replaces the seven items sent on September 1, which are still published below. The narrowing was possible because most of the original letter turned out to be answerable from public records. York Regional Police publishes every active camera location as open data; the Board's June 25, 2025 report carries the ALPR approval, the Axon partnership, the $255,000 Ontario CCTV Grant and the crime-reduction figure — 455 violent crimes within 1 km of a camera against 485 the year before. So the locations item was withdrawn outright, the Board-records item was withdrawn, and the rest was cut to the part nobody publishes: what the system is configured to do. I request the following, and I am content for security-sensitive material to be severed:

1. ALPR coverage. A record showing which of the CCTV sites published on the Community Safety Data Portal have ALPR enabled, and whether York Regional Police operates any ALPR-capable camera — fixed, trailer-mounted, temporary or otherwise — that is not published on that portal. If ALPR is enabled at all published sites and there are no unpublished ones, a written statement saying so is a complete answer.
2. Configured retention. Records showing the retention period currently configured in the ALPR system for (a) plate reads that do not match the hot list, (b) reads that do match, and (c) ALPR audit logs. A configuration export, an administrative settings page, or a governance document stating the values is sufficient. Also: the record identifying which position or role can change those values, and whether a change requires anything beyond a system administrator's action.
3. The hot list, and sharing. (a) The agreement, memorandum or terms of use under which York Regional Police receives and uses the provincial stolen vehicle hot list; (b) the current state of any setting permitting another agency to search York Regional Police ALPR data through the Axon platform, and the identity of any agency with such access.
4. The 6.19% analysis. The Business Intelligence Unit analysis underlying the June 25, 2025 board report's finding of 455 violent crimes within one kilometre of CCTV-equipped intersections (May 1, 2024 to May 1, 2025) against 485 the previous period: the methodology, the offence categories counted, the per-location figures, and the results of the evaluation of adjacent areas to CCTV locations referred to in that report.
5. Privacy Impact Assessment. The final Privacy Impact Assessment for the CCTV program and the final assessment, addendum or update prepared for the ALPR integration approved June 25, 2025 — or a written statement that no assessment was prepared for the ALPR integration.
6. Grant record. The Ontario CCTV Grant agreement or transfer-payment terms for the $255,000 contribution agreed in April 2025, including any reporting obligations to the Province, and Appendix A to the June 25, 2025 board report if the locations it names differ from those now published on the portal.
7. Aggregate audit and misuse statistics. For January 1, 2023 to present: aggregate counts of internal, professional standards or privacy investigations involving alleged unauthorized access to or misuse of police information systems, the number substantiated, and the disciplinary outcomes by category — no names or identifying information. Plus the current audit policy for ALPR and CCTV queries, and the most recent completed audit report, severed as required.

Where a fee estimate is required, please issue it before the work and say which item drives it — I will drop or defer that item. Priority order: 2, 4, 5, 1, 3, 6, 7. A fee waiver is requested under s. 45(4)(c): everything released is published here, free, beside the same questions put to other Ontario services. Sincerely, [Name] [Email]

Dear Freedom of Information Coordinator, This is a request for records under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA). The $5.00 application fee is enclosed / has been paid. I request electronic copies of records where they exist in electronic form. Please provide final versions of records; I am not requesting drafts. If any portion of a responsive record is withheld, please cite the specific exemption relied upon and disclose the remainder as required by s. 4(2). If estimated fees will exceed $25, please provide a fee estimate and advise me of fee-waiver provisions before proceeding, as required following the 2026 amendments — I am open to narrowing the scope of this request to reduce fees or processing time. Please note the amended definition of 'record' expressly includes data stored digitally; system configuration values responsive to this request are records in that sense.

I request the following records:

1. Records sufficient to identify the locations (street address or intersection) of the combined CCTV and ALPR cameras that went live on or about June 23, 2026, and of any additional sites planned or approved for Kitchener, Cambridge, and North Dumfries.
2. The final Privacy Impact Assessment(s) for the CCTV/ALPR program.
3. Records showing the currently configured retention periods for (a) non-hit plate reads, (b) hit records, and (c) CCTV video.
4. The funding agreement, terms, or conditions under which the program is funded through Ontario's Guns, Gangs and Violence Reduction Strategy, including any reporting obligations to the Province.
5. Any agreements governing the sharing of camera or ALPR data with other police services or agencies.
6. Statistical or aggregate records showing, for the period January 1, 2023 to present: (a) the number of internal investigations, professional standards investigations, or privacy breach investigations involving alleged unauthorized access to, or misuse of, ALPR data, CPIC, or other police databases; (b) the number of substantiated findings; and (c) the disciplinary outcomes by category (e.g., training, forfeiture of hours, demotion, dismissal, criminal charge). To be clear, I am not requesting the names or identifying information of any individual — aggregate counts and severed summaries are responsive to this item. I also request any reports to the Police Services Board concerning misuse of ALPR or database access, and records showing whether and how often proactive audits of ALPR queries are conducted (audit policy, frequency, and the most recent audit report, severed as required).

Thank you for your assistance. I look forward to your response within the statutory period of 45 business days. Sincerely, [Name] [Mailing address] [Email] · [Phone]