A license-plate reader photographs every vehicle that passes. The plate number is the part the product is named for. The stored record is the photograph, plus whatever the software tags onto it: make, color, body type, and, vendor by vendor, stickers, racks, a missing plate, and the path the vehicle took.
The diagram is a generic rear view, drawn for this page. It is not a frame from any camera. The list around it is the menu these systems advertise. No single product fills in every line, and Arvada’s contract does not buy every line Flock advertises. The matrix further down is where those differences are.
Diagram, not a photograph
A partial plate is still the plate. Flock’s camera sheet includes partial plates. Motorola and Axon document a search on an incomplete number. A Genetec hot list can hold a plate with up to two wildcard characters.[4][11][15][21]
Arvada’s 2023 Flock agreement defines “Vehicle Fingerprint” as “type, make, color, state registration, missing/covered plates, bumper stickers, decals, roof racks, and bike racks.” The December 2025 order form adds the software around that record: unlimited custom hot lists, Vehicle Fingerprint search, and Advanced Search, which it says includes convoy analysis, multi-geo search, and visual search. It also lists a state network and a nationwide network, both labeled “license plate lookup only,” and access to privately owned Flock cameras “in neighborhoods, schools, and businesses.”[1][2]
In the matrix, a dagger (†) means that contract names the feature. A Flock cell without a dagger is the company’s current documentation, which is broader than the order form and may describe a product Arvada did not buy. The order form names “visual search” and does not define it.[2]
Flock is not the only reader in the city’s records. A February 2026 police slide told council the department had 16 Flock cameras, 10 Genetec, and 1 ELSAG, and that Public Works had 4 more Genetec units. The December 2025 Flock contract covers 15 cameras. An April 2026 study session said council would consider a contract with Axon for the real-time center. No Axon or Motorola or Rekor plate-reader purchase is in the documents this site has.[2][28][29]
Each cell is what that vendor’s own documentation says. It is not an audit of what any city, including Arvada, has switched on. Materials were read on October 2, 2026. Vendor pages change.
On a narrow screen the table scrolls sideways. The feature name stays on the left.
| Feature | Flock SafetyLPR and FlockOS. Arvada’s fixed cameras. | Motorola VigilantLEARN and VehicleManager. | AxonFleet 3 ALPR and Fusus search. | Genetec AutoVuSharp cameras. Arvada runs AutoVu in cars. | RekorScout, Edge, and Watchman. | Leonardo ELSAGMobile and fixed Plate Hunter. One unit on an Arvada slide. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| What one read can containThe fields a passing vehicle can leave behind. | ||||||
| Plate characters[1][12][15][20][24][25] | Yes† | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Issuing state or region[1][10][15][19][22][27] | Yes†The contract’s phrase is “state registration.” | YesFiltering by registration state can require a permission.[10] | YesPlate state of origin.[15] | TierPlate origin is an analytic the agency turns on.[19] | YesStored as the plate’s region.[22] | NarrowPlates are read with a protocol per jurisdiction. A separate state field is not described.[27] |
| Photograph of the plate and of the vehicle[3][12][16][20][23][25] | YesThe fingerprint is taken from a picture of the vehicle.[3] | YesProduct page: a full vehicle image, including from a partial plate.[12] | YesEvidence shows a plate image and an overview image.[16] | YesA context camera sits beside the plate camera.[20] | YesScout can store and retrieve the images for a read.[23] | YesBlack-and-white and color photos of the plate and the vehicle.[25] |
| Date, time, and where the camera was[3][11][16][21][23][27] | YesTime and location are stored with the image.[3] | Yes | Yes | Yes | YesReads carry GPS.[23] | YesDate, time, and GPS on the captured data.[27] |
| Make[1][10][15][20][22][26] | Yes† | TierYear, make, and model search is a permission.[10] | YesFleet 3’s FAQ names color, make, and type. Evidence exposes them when a vehicle-characteristic service is on.[15][16] | TierOptional analytic. A published make list, not a guarantee on every read.[20] | TierPro and Enterprise. The Basic plan is plate numbers only.[22] | TierMTC add-on. Thirty-four common U.S. makes.[26] |
| Model name[3][6][10][15][20][22][26] | NarrowSome Flock pages say “make, model, color.” The itemized fingerprint list names make and body type, not a model such as Civic.[3][6] | TierSame permission as make and year.[10] | Not foundThe FAQ question mentions model. The answer says color, make, and type.[15] | TierOptional. The guide’s example is Honda Civic.[20] | TierMake and model together, on Pro and Enterprise.[22] | Not foundMTC describes 34 makes, not model names.[26] |
| Color[1][11][13][15][20][22][26] | Yes† | YesOne release limits a color search to 90 days.[13] | YesNamed with make and type.[15] | TierOptional. At night the guide says the camera returns light, neutral, or dark.[20] | TierPro and Enterprise.[22] | TierMTC add-on. General colors.[26] |
| Body type[1][10][15][20][22][26] | Yes†The contract’s word is “type.” | YesVehicle type is its own search filter.[10] | YesType, and in Fusus a body such as SUV, sedan, or pickup.[15][17] | TierOptional, with color and which way the vehicle faces.[20] | TierA published list from sedan and SUV down to tractor and bus. Pro and Enterprise.[22] | TierMTC add-on. Seven types, from sedan to box truck.[26] |
| Model year[3][10][17][20][22][26] | Not foundNot in the itemized fingerprint list.[3] | TierSame permission as make and model.[10] | Not foundNot in the Fleet FAQ or the Fusus field list.[15][17] | Not foundNot in the SharpV analytics list reviewed.[20] | TierYear ranges, such as 2010–2014.[22] | Not foundNot in the MTC description.[26] |
| Stickers, racks, damage, and other visible marks[1][3][8][17][20][22][26] | Yes†Contract: bumper stickers, decals, roof racks, bike racks. Current pages also name toolboxes and damage.[1][3] | YesAssist searches damage, stickers, decals, signage, and text, including where on the vehicle.[8] | NarrowFusus has fields for roof racks and bumper stickers across connected cameras, including Flock. Fleet 3’s own FAQ stops at color, make, and type.[15][17] | NarrowHitch, a rear attachment such as a bike rack, and a spare tire. SharpV only, and Genetec has to enable it.[20] | Not foundThe published catalog is type, make, model, color, year, and direction. “Over 2,000 characteristics” is the size of that catalog.[22] | TierMTC add-on: pedestal spoiler, roof rack, spare tire, bumper sticker, rideshare decal.[26] |
| Temporary or paper plate, as its own category[4] | YesIn Flock’s current materials. Arvada’s 2023 sentence says missing and covered, not temporary.[4] | Not found | Not found | Not found | Not found | Not found |
| No plate, or a covered plate, still becomes a record[1][20][24] | Yes†The contract’s phrase is “missing/covered plates.” | Not found | Not found | Not foundThe analytics reviewed attach to a plate read.[20] | YesThe law-enforcement sheet says the system detects vehicles without plates.[24] | Not found |
| Direction of travel[6][20][22] | NarrowDescribed as vehicle movement across cameras, not as a heading stored on each image.[6] | Not found | Not found | NarrowWhich way the vehicle faces in the frame: front, back, or side.[20] | TierDirection of travel ships with characteristics on Pro and Enterprise.[22] | Not found |
| What the software can do with the recordsSearch, alerts, and whose cameras are in reach. This is where a local camera becomes a network. | ||||||
| Hot lists and a real-time alert[2][11][15][21][24][25] | Yes†The order form says unlimited custom hot lists. | Yes | YesAgency lists and NCIC. A hit is designed to alert within a second.[15] | YesMatching against a hot list is a setting in Security Center.[21] | YesThe law-enforcement sheet says unlimited hotlisted plates, and a connection to NCIC lists.[24] | Yes |
| Search by the vehicle’s description, without a plate[2][8][16][19][24][26] | Yes†The order form includes Vehicle Fingerprint search. | YesQuickSearch filters on attributes. Assist takes a sentence.[8][11] | TierColor, make, and body are search fields when vehicle-characteristic enrichment is on. Plate number is optional in Fusus.[16][17] | TierMake, model, and color can be queried in reports once the analytics are on.[19] | TierThe law-enforcement sheet says search by vehicle characteristics.[24] | TierWith MTC, a search can start from color, body, make, and the visual descriptors.[26] |
| Plain-language search[5][8] | YesFreeForm. On plate cameras, vehicles only. People search is a video feature, below. Not named in Arvada’s order form.[5] | YesAssist. The guide’s examples include “yellow vans with writing on the side.”[8] | Not found | Not found | Not found | Not found |
| Vehicles seen traveling together[2][10][12] | Yes†Convoy analysis is in the Advanced Search Arvada bought. Flock’s platform page also lists convoy detection as an enhanced upgrade.[2][7] | YesConvoy analysis: vehicles through the same fixed cameras, repeatedly. A separate tool finds vehicles seen near each other at two or more places.[10] | Not found | Not found | Not found | Not found |
| Which vehicles were at a place and a time[2][11] | Yes†Multi-geo search is in the order form. | YesStakeout lists plates seen at a location in a window. Assist can take a drawn zone.[8][11] | NarrowReads can be filtered by time, and Fusus by a time range. A place-first stakeout tool was not in the Fleet search page.[16][17] | NarrowReads and hits can be reported from the cameras the agency runs.[21] | NarrowReads are stored with a location. A named stakeout or geofence tool was not in the materials reviewed.[23] | NarrowThe operations center is described as query and analysis. A place-first tool was not named.[25] |
| Other agencies’ cameras, including a nationwide pool[2][14][17][24] | Yes†State and nationwide networks. The order form says plate lookup only, and “10 billion additional plate reads per month.” Whether Arvada’s own cameras are opened to that pool is not in the contract.[2] | YesLEARN is a shared archive. An agency searches its own data, shared law-enforcement data, or both.[12][14] | NarrowFleet 3 reads are the agency’s own cars. Fusus can also search connected Vigilant, Flock, and Jenoptik cameras.[17] | Not foundThe documents reviewed describe the agency’s own Security Center, not a vendor-run national pool. | NarrowThe law-enforcement sheet says agencies can share with their neighbors.[24] | Not foundThe operations center is the agency’s store. A national opt-in pool was not described. |
| Privately owned cameras in the same search[2][14][17] | Yes†Community network: neighborhoods, schools, and businesses. The order form gives Arvada the ability to request that access.[2] | YesCommercial LPR data, a paid feed of plates collected by private sources. A different thing from a neighborhood camera.[14] | NarrowFusus can include third-party cameras an agency connects. That is not a standing private network.[17] | Not found | Not found | Not found |
The dagger is a fact about Arvada’s paperwork, not a claim that the feature is in use. The order form lists networks and searches. Which agencies can actually query Arvada’s cameras is a setting, and the released contracts do not record it. That gap is spelled out on The Program.
The Genetec column is the current Sharp documentation. Accessory detection is documented for SharpV fixed units, and only after Genetec enables it. Arvada’s released Genetec purchase is for readers on patrol cars, and it does not say which analytics those cars run. A SharpZ3 is Genetec’s in-car unit. This page does not establish that Arvada’s cars are SharpZ3s, or that they run the analytics in the column.[20][21] The purchase itself is on The Program.
The record described above is a photograph of a vehicle, taken on a public road, of every vehicle rather than of vehicles tied to a crime. A person standing in that frame is in the photograph. None of the plate-reader documents reviewed for this matrix say the plate camera identifies someone by their face.
FreeForm will take a description of a person, such as clothing, on video cameras and video feeds. Flock says that search does not use facial recognition, and that it does not run on license-plate cameras. Separate video features, Guardian Mode and people-detection alerts, detect a person in a camera’s view and can capture a closer image. Arvada’s released Flock contracts buy the plate-reader platform, not these video products.[5][9]
Flock’s FlockOS page describes one screen that brings in video, drones, and gunshot detection along with plate reads, plus CAD and other systems. Those are additional inputs. They are not features of the plate camera, and they are not line items in the Arvada contracts this site has.[7][2]
Fleet 3 is sold as one in-car system. Beside the plate reader, the product page describes an interior camera with a knee-to-head view of occupants, and infrared for night. That is a video camera pointed at the people in the car, not a field on the plate read. Arvada’s released records do not include a Fleet 3 purchase.[18][29]
Six product lines are enough columns for a page a person can actually read. They are the ones with public documentation detailed enough to compare field by field, and they include the three names already in Arvada’s records: Flock, Genetec, and ELSAG. Jenoptik’s Vector cameras appear as a source inside Axon’s Fusus search, which is a sign they are in use, and they are not given a column here.[17] Neology sells plate readers aimed largely at tolling. Verkada and other video companies sell plate analytics on general security cameras. Leaving them off this page is not a claim that they are absent from the street.
A “not found” cell means the documents in the source list below do not state the feature. It does not mean the software cannot do it, and it does not mean a later brochure will not add it. Corrections are welcome and will be posted; see the corrections policy.
Vendor pages were read on October 2, 2026.