Coon Rapids Accepts State Grant to Bolster Auto-theft Prevention

Coon Rapids Accepts State Grant to Bolster Auto-theft Prevention

COON RAPIDS — The Coon Rapids City Council voted Sept. 15, 2025 to accept a state auto-theft prevention grant that will fund two movable Automated License Plate Recognition (ALPR) cameras for the Coon Rapids Police Department, a step city officials say will strengthen investigators’ ability to locate and recover stolen vehicles.

The action was listed on the city’s Sept. 15 meeting materials and in the city’s meeting recap published on the city website, which notes the council accepted a Minnesota Department of Public Safety auto-theft prevention grant at that meeting.

Police presentation, mobile ALPRs and how they’ll be used

During the council meeting, department leaders described the planned purchases and their intended use. The grant will pay for two movable ALPR units that can be deployed to targeted locations—allowing officers to concentrate resources in neighborhoods and corridors experiencing elevated vehicle theft or where leads indicate stolen cars may travel.

Local coverage of the council action reports the decision was supported by a presentation from a Coon Rapids Police Department captain who outlined the cameras’ utility for stolen-vehicle investigations and recovery.

What ALPRs do — and what the state’s auto-theft program funds

ALPR systems automatically capture license-plate characters and log time, date and location data for a passing vehicle. Law-enforcement agencies use ALPR alerts to identify vehicles that match entries on stolen-vehicle databases or other investigative watchlists. The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension’s (BCA) Automobile Theft Prevention Program explicitly lists mobile and stationary license-plate readers among the types of equipment it funds to assist recovery and investigation efforts, and the program supports local projects—equipment purchases, investigative work and interagency collaboration—through a competitive grant process.

Statewide oversight and reporting requirements
Minnesota law and BCA policy require law-enforcement agencies that operate ALPR systems to report their use and certain operational details to the state. The BCA maintains a public list of agencies that use license-plate readers and publishes guidance intended to ensure consistent administration and reporting of ALPR data. That statewide transparency framework is part of efforts to balance investigative utility with privacy and accountability concerns that have accompanied the adoption of the technology.

Why the city pursued the grant
Auto theft has been a persistent problem for many Twin Cities suburbs and for Anoka County partners; local agencies have participated previously in county-level anti-theft efforts and grant programs designed to coordinate investigations and increase recovery rates. The Coon Rapids Police Department is part of broader regional anti-auto-theft efforts and has used grant funding in earlier cycles to support investigations and prevention work. Accepting the state grant signals the city’s intent to leverage technology—alongside investigative work—to reduce theft, speed recoveries and limit the downstream impacts thefts have on victims and insurance costs.

How the equipment will be deployed and tracked
According to the state grant program’s contract language and standard award conditions, equipment purchased with Automobile Theft Prevention Grant funds is expected to be placed into service promptly and documented in quarterly reports to the grant manager; grantees must also maintain inventory lists and comply with reporting and evaluation requirements tied to the grant. Those requirements mean the city will be expected to track deployment and document how the ALPR units are used as part of the grant reporting process.

Council response and community implications
Council members framed the vote as a public-safety investment. Supporters said mobile ALPRs will allow department leaders to respond flexibly to crime patterns and to concentrate resources without permanently altering roadways or infrastructure. Advocates of the technology say targeted, mobile deployments are an efficient way to increase the chance of recovering stolen vehicles and identifying repeat offenders; critics of ALPR technology elsewhere have urged careful policies on retention, access and oversight to protect privacy. The city’s acceptance of the grant commits it to the program’s reporting and accountability expectations while giving police an additional investigative tool.

What to expect next
The grant program’s administrative timetable generally requires grantees to submit purchase orders and bring equipment online within the grant year; the BCA’s program materials and grant contract language specify reporting deadlines and performance-measurement expectations. Residents can expect the city to publish further details—purchase orders, deployment plans and follow-up reporting—through city council materials and the police department as the equipment is acquired and put into service.

MinneapoliMedia