Rochester Beacon reported that Geneva police say they keep license plate reader data for 21 days, but the department's written policy does not say so. Fairport police, in Monroe County, have a written policy allowing data to be kept up to six years, though the village says its system was last used around 2019 and holds no data from it.
The two policies were supplied in response to public-records requests this fall. Both limit use to legitimate law enforcement purposes, but they differ sharply on how long data is kept and what an officer must record when searching.
How long does Geneva keep plate reader data?
Geneva's General Order 640, effective Dec. 19, 2025, governs the department's fixed Rekor Edge Max readers. The order does not state a retention period.
- Chief Ron Eveland said the department keeps data 21 days, matching the city IT department's retention period.
- Geneva shares its data with the Monroe County Crime Analysis Center, Eveland said, and no other outside agencies have access.
- As of Oct. 5, Eveland had not located the agreement governing that sharing.
The order requires officers to visually verify an alert before a stop and to record how each alert was resolved. It does not require a general query-by-query log.
How long does Fairport keep it?
Fairport's General Order 514-18, effective June 12, 2018, requires data to stay searchable and auditable for one year. After that, it is archived for five more years before being destroyed. Extending retention for an ongoing investigation requires written authorization from the district attorney's office.
Fairport also requires each search to state its reason, the identity of the person searching and a case number when one applies. Query logs are kept in the Vigilant database for audit. Village Manager Bryan White said the system was last used around 2019, the equipment can't be located and no data remains, though the policy is still in effect.
The Fairport policy describes what is allowed, not what happens. The records do not show how it worked while the system was in use.
What changes for drivers?
The reporting does not describe any camera being turned off, removed or moved. It also does not describe a contract ending or a new vote. Geneva's readers are fixed devices, and Fairport's equipment is no longer in use, according to the village.
Readers run by neighboring agencies, a county, the state, a business or an HOA are outside this story and stay where they are. To see which readers are mapped near you, check the camera map. For background on how these systems work, read how plate readers work.
What the policies don't answer
The policies show stated rules. They do not show how often either department searches its data, who outside the department can see it, or whether the rules are followed. Those answers come from query logs, audit results, retention settings and sharing agreements.
Residents can ask their own department for the same records. Published transparency records are collected on the agencies page. Useful questions include how many searches ran last year, which outside agencies can query the data, and where any sharing agreement is kept.
The reporting says a follow-up will cover who should set these limits. It gives no date for that story.