Weymouth police find missing Connecticut man with plate reader alert, the seventh such case
An automated license plate reader flagged a vehicle tied to the endangered man Thursday evening, and officers got him medical help and notified his family, police said.
Weymouth police found an elderly man from Connecticut who had been reported missing and endangered after an automated license plate reader flagged a vehicle linked to him Thursday evening, Nov. 12, the department said.
Officers gave the man medical help and notified his family to coordinate his safe return, according to a press release dated Friday, Nov. 13, that the Weymouth Police Department posted on its Facebook page. Police said it is the seventh missing person the department has found since it began using the plate reader technology.
How the alert came in
At about 6:52 p.m. Thursday, Weymouth officers received an automated license plate reader alert through the Flock system about a vehicle connected to a missing person entry from Connecticut in NCIC, the National Crime Information Center, the department said. Connecticut State Police had reported the man missing and endangered, according to the release.
Seventh person found
The department said the two most recent cases it has handled with the readers involved people from outside the area, one from Cape Cod and the other from as far away as Connecticut.
"These incidents highlight the regional role ALPR technology can play in providing investigative leads and assisting law enforcement agencies beyond local jurisdictions," the department wrote.
Police said missing and endangered people, particularly older adults, "may travel significant distances from home, sometimes placing their health and safety at risk."
The release, issued under Chief Richard M. Fuller Jr.'s letterhead, said the department is "grateful this incident had a positive outcome" and commended the officers involved for their "diligence, timely response, and commitment to public safety."
A statewide debate over the readers
The readers are also the subject of a debate on Beacon Hill. A bill filed by state Rep. Steve Owens, a Watertown Democrat, would let data from the readers be kept for up to 14 days unless it is connected to a criminal investigation, and would bar anyone acting under color of law from getting the data from other entities without a warrant, State House News Service reported in September. House members of the Transportation Committee endorsed the bill 11-0 in March, and it had been pending in the House Ways and Means Committee since then, the News Service reported. With formal sessions over for the legislative term, Owens told the News Service, "I don't know that the rules really favor that right now," when he was asked about the bill's chances of a vote.
Gideon Epstein, policy counsel for the ACLU of Massachusetts, told the News Service the technology can be an effective law enforcement tool with the right guardrails. "But the problem is, we effectively have none of those guardrails in place at the moment," he said. A Flock spokesperson told the News Service the company supports "thoughtful, bipartisan legislation" that puts privacy, transparency and accountability guardrails in place while preserving law enforcement's ability to use the technology.
Label: Reported by us.
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Sources (2)
- "Weymouth Police Locate Seventh Missing Person with Assistance of ALPR Technology," Weymouth Police Department press release, Nov. 13, 2026, posted on the department's Facebook page
- "State lawmakers look to put guardrails on Flock," Katie Castellani, State House News Service, published by GBH News, Sept. 9, 2026