Los Alamos police chief to brief council on cameras, data use
Los Alamos police will face questions Tuesday on where cameras sit, what ALPRs capture, who can see the data and how long it stays stored.
Police Chief Dino Sgambellone will brief County Council on Tuesday evening on cameras and data collection across Los Alamos County, with residents able to watch in Council Chambers at the Municipal Building, 1000 Central Ave., or join by Zoom or by telephone. The regular session begins at 6 p.m., and the meeting will be held in person, streamed live and posted later on video-on-demand.
The sharpest questions center on automated license plate readers and the other camera systems the county already operates. ALPR data are stored on local servers, are for official Los Alamos Police Department use only, and can be accessed only by Evidence Technicians, with every access logged. The cameras capture license plates and vehicle views, not people inside the vehicle, and the department uses other cameras too, including security cameras, traffic cameras and live-stream cameras.
Those public-facing views are easy to find through the county’s MyDrive service, which streams major roadways and intersections in Los Alamos and White Rock. The system includes Central Ave. at 15th Street, Diamond Dr. at Trinity, Diamond Dr. at Fire Station 4, Airport/NM 502 and White Rock/NM-4 locations. The council briefing will cover how those systems fit together, what information they collect and what limits, if any, govern retention and sharing.
New Mexico Senate Bill 40 takes effect July 1 and adds new restrictions on ALPR data, along with annual reporting requirements to the New Mexico Department of Public Safety. Residents have asked who authorized the cameras, what they capture and whether the county will seek new approvals or rule changes before expanding use.
Sgambellone, who became Los Alamos police chief in 2013 after starting in law enforcement in 1991, released first-quarter 2026 crime statistics on April 17 showing overall crime down 10% year-over-year, with crimes against persons and property trending downward. Crimes against society rose from 1 to 5, and theft, fraud and simple assault were the most common offenses.
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