Augusta University Police Revise License Plate Data Policy After News Inquiry

Augusta University Police Department is changing how outside law enforcement can get license plate reader data. News 12 found the written rules didn't match what officers did each day, and the university had spent over $200,000 on the system.

Chief James Lyon said his officers have been giving data to outside agencies when they call about active cases. But the written policy tells a different story. It demands a written request with the agency name, the person asking, and why they want it. Then the Security Operations Division Director has to look at each one and say yes or no before anyone gets the information.

"I want to commend you for asking for our policy because in the review of our policy, we realized that the policy was written before we got our license plate reader system," Lyon said, per News 12. "The policy doesn't necessarily, for requests, reflect our practice. So we're updating our policy."

The new version will drop the written request rule. Lyon said News 12's questions made his department take a hard look at how things worked.

"Your inquiry really charged us with looking at that process. And so, yeah, we'll be making changes to that to reflect our practice," he said.

Lyon said any information given to outside agencies must connect to an open investigation. He wants to help other police officers catch criminals.