SMILE! YOU’RE ON CAMERA
By Kyle Hudson
Editor’s Note: Due to public interest, this article has been made free to read. If you would like to support our local journalism, please consider subscribing.
If you have driven through West Chester in the last five years, your car’s license plate is likely now part of one of the largest driver information databases in the state of Pennsylvania. Beginning in November 2021, every car traveling through the heart of West Chester has been documented and cataloged by VIPR.AI, an automated license plate reader technology, or ALPR, based in Exton, PA. '
Formerly named PlateLogIQ, the VIPR camera network includes cam eras at several hundred agencies across Pennsylvania that stream 24/7 video footage to the company’s cloud server. This grants users the ability to know not only the real-time location of every car in the VIPR network, but also their movement history for the last year as well the ability to create “hotlists”, which alert them to the location of a targeted vehicle as soon as it enters the network.
We spoke with WCPD Chief Josh Lee about the WCPD’s ALPR program. “I know regionally, and probably even na tionally, there are concerns from different groups.”
Chief Lee continued, “A lot [of concerns] are privacy concerns; how long is this data compiled for? Well, the systems and services we use here in West Chester, and I believe also regionally, are kept for twelve months. Beyond one year, it can’t be accessed.” He added, “All of this information we are talking about can only be accessed for bona fide law enforcement purposes.”
While Chief Lee couldn’t disclose specifics, he told us that VIPR has been “a tool that has helped and has led to the successful resolution and investigation of serious crimes.”
We also asked Chief Lee if there are any audits of how the system is used to prevent or detect possible abuse; he replied, ” We have a policy and a procedure, and we have a rank structure… part of every supervisor’s job is ensuring compliance with policy.”
Is this technology a violation of your rights? Legally, all of the footage ALPRs collect is taken on public property, where there is no expectation of privacy.
When asked directly if he feels confident the data is secure, Chief Lee replied, “I do.”
In June, we filed a Right-to-Know request asking for more information on the relationship between VIPR and the Borough. We were provided with an ALPR policy issued by Chief Lee on May 19, 2026. It directly names four companies WCPD can work with: ELSAG, Axon, VIPR and Flock. Chief Lee said ELSAG supplies the mobile readers used in patrol vehicles, Axon is the same company that provides WCPD’s body cameras, and while WCPD does not use Flock cameras, it does use the Flock service.
Flock operates a nationwide network of over 120,000 surveillance cameras. Recently, the company has been highly criticized for their use of APLR cameras. As of June 2nd, Flock changed their default data retention period to seven days.
Chief Lee claims WCPD does not use facial recognition for law enforcement purposes. VIPR.AI has committed to only using license plate reading technology, and not facial recognition.
In a response to our Right-to Know Request, we were told no contracts, invoices, or purchase orders existed be tween VIPR.AI and the Borough. However, we estimate via the proposal we were able to obtain from the Borough’s website that the program began in November 2021, under the administration of interim Mayor Jordan Norley. A five-year, $56k contract for seven cameras was executed, and we have been paying $11,200 a year since then.
At the Borough’s Public Safety meeting on July 14, 2021, then-WCPD Chief Jim Morehead requested a “slight increase in software; this is due to the amount of video evidence that we have to capture on a daily basis with our body cam and our in-car mobile video camera system. All that data has to be stored, and we are looking at a cloud service to manage that moving forward.”
One of the calendar documents we received showed that on July 16, 2021, a meeting was held between Chief Morehead, founder of VIPR.AI Sean Petty, and six senior members of the WCPD. Chief Lee was listed amongst those in attendance, despite Chief Lee telling us he doesn’t recall the meeting. Notes on the meeting’s agenda simply state, “Sean Petty will give us the rundown on LPR’s fixed/ mobile and the upcoming viper network.”
West Chester’s relationship with VIPR.AI first became public in 2023, after it became required for council to approve expenditures over $10,000. Since then, payments have been approved by the finance committee, currently chaired by Councilman Brian McGinnis. Council has since approved the purchase four times, most recently in June of this year.
No records have been located documenting any presentations by Petty or any representative of VIPR to West Chester Borough Council. Furthermore, we could find no mentions of the technology in any borough council meeting notes or agenda plans prior to 2023. The terms “VIPR” or “PlateLogIQ” do not appear in any budget plans or materials publicly available on the borough’s online databases.
Very little public information exists about VIPR.AI, and our repeated requests for an interview remain unanswered. The company’s headquarters are located in a Regus co-working space in Exton. When we stopped by the office, the company’s name did not appear on the directory, though a receptionist there confirmed the company uses the space. Unlike Flock and Axon, which employ more than 1,000 and 5,000 employees, respectively, VIPR.AI appears to have fewer than 10, with only three named on the company’s LinkedIn page.
VIPR.AI was founded in 2021 by Sean Petty, a Villanova University graduate. Petty began his career in public service in New York City before serving nearly six years as deputy director of Montgomery County’s public safety department. His shift to the private sector came after this, when he began working at Mission Critical Partners Inc.
Petty’s apparent co-founder, Sérgio Montazzolli Silva, appears to be based in Brazil. According to Google Scholar, Silva’s research on license plate readers has been cited more than 1,000 times. Still, he appears to have shared no new publications since 2021. VIPR’s Operations Manager, Joy Fox, was hired in July of this year.
We reached out to Mayor DeBaptiste, former Interim Mayor Norley, as well as past and present members of West Chester Borough Council. At the time of publishing, we have only re ceived a response from current Borough Councilwoman Lisa Kearns (D-Ward 7).
Kearns declined to comment on Borough Council’s lack of involvement in the decision to implement VIPR due to the fact she was not yet a councilmember when the decision was made. When asked if she believes civilians should have oversight of the program, she replied, “Not necessarily.” Kearns did, how ever, express her belief that civilian input should be factored into these decisions. She said, “I think this is a valuable discussion to have with all of Borough Council if the residents believe they want to talk about this.