Counties reassess license plate surveillance amid privacy concerns

Key Takeaways

Counties across the country are grappling with how to address mass public backlash against local governments’ use of Flock cameras and other automated license plate readers. Some counties are doubling down and adding more of the technology, while others are banning it altogether. 

Flock, an artificial intelligence-powered surveillance camera company, is the nation’s largest maker of automated license plate readers (ALPRs). Its network of 120,000 cameras across the country capture and analyze vehicle data into a mappable database that local governments and police departments can use to help solve crimes. 

Local government use of the technology has received massive backlash recently, with residents expressing concern over surveillance and reports of law enforcement abusing it for personal tracking queries. 

Dozens of counties have canceled Flock contracts and/or deactivated cameras, according to DeFlock, a project that maps license plate readers; one of those is Milwaukee County, Wis. 

Earlier this month, the Milwaukee County Board unanimously approved the removal of all 42 Flock ALPRs in its county parks by the end of the year, citing concerns over privacy, data-sharing issues and instances across the country of officers misusing the technology for personal use. 

“Government has a responsibility to protect people from harm,” said County Board Chairwoman Marcelia Nicholson-Bovell at an Oct. 1 Board of Supervisors meeting. “But that doesn’t give us a blank check to monitor their movements.”

The proposed 2027 county budget does not include funding for any type of ALPR service, redirecting the $140,000 previously allocated to Flock cameras to a Right to Counsel eviction-prevention program run by the Legal Aid Society.   

However, the Milwaukee Police Department has announced it intends to renew its contract with Flock when it expires in January, funded through the city’s standard operational police budget. Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office also defended its use of the technology, reporting a 43% decline in certain crimes around county parks between 2023 and 2026.

“I ​recognize ​the ​value ​camera ​surveillance ​can ​offer ​for ​our ​public ​safety ​partners,” said County Executive David Crowley. “​​I ​will ​keep ​working ​to ​strengthen ​public ​safety ​in ​Milwaukee ​County, ​including ​helping ​our ​Sheriff’s Office ​identify ​and ​implement ​more ​tools ​to ​prevent ​crime. ​

“But ​our ​residents’ ​constitutional ​rights ​must ​take ​precedence,” he noted. “We ​must ​be ​able ​to ​deliver ​both ​public ​safety ​and ​public ​trust. ​And ​we ​cannot ​build ​one ​by ​sacrificing ​the ​other … We cannot wait for a data breach. We cannot wait until privacy is compromised or whether information is misused before we actually act.”

According to a Washington Post investigation published in August, at least 69 law enforcement employees across multiple states have been accused, charged or convicted of using ALPRs for unauthorized purposes, including to monitor romantic partners, former spouses and people they were interested in pursuing romantically. 

Less than a week after the article was published, a series of organizations representing state and local enforcement across the country, including the National Sheriffs’ Association and the National Real Time Crime Center Association, released a joint statement addressing concerns over ALPR technology. 

“We are listening,” the statement reads. “We want to work with policymakers and the communities we serve to address these concerns and ensure this technology continues to be used responsibly. At the same time, we believe it is important that this conversation fully consider how ALPR technology is being used every day in communities across the country — to locate missing children, find victims, solve serious crimes and keep our communities safe.

“When a child is missing, a trafficking victim is being moved across jurisdictions or a violent offender is on the road, every minute matters. ALPR technology gives investigators a critical lead in seconds — helping law enforcement find someone in danger, identify a dangerous suspect or connect a vehicle to a series crime before that opportunity is lost.”

According to a recent National Policing Institute survey, 54.4% of U.S. adults oppose the use of ALPRs in their communities, with 34% “strongly opposed” to them.

Critiques of the technology have superseded party lines. On August 26, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders both released anti-ALPR statements. DeSantis said the use of license plate readers in Florida is “out of control” and that the public has a “right to be concerned” about the erosion of privacy, and Sanders said that the technology marked a move toward totalitarianism in the United States. 

Despite facing some backlash from constituents, Chambers County, Texas, is preparing to add more Flock cameras, according to Sheriff Brian Hawthorne. 

“Burglaries and thefts have greatly been reduced ever since we brought Flock into the county,” Hawthorne said. “… Violent crime, not a huge reduction, but arrests are being made. We’re clearing the cases.”

Chambers County’s violent crime clearance rate, which is the percentage of criminal incidents law enforcement consider “solved” relative to the number of crimes recorded, is up, and Hawthorne attributes that to ALPR technology.

Prior to using Flock, the county’s violent crime clearance rate averaged around 55%. In 2024, the year the county implemented the technology, the clearance rate jumped to 82%, according to Hawthorne. 

“I want to be a sheriff that solves crime, not somebody that just reports crime,” Hawthorne said. “And I will tell you that automatic license plate readers are one of the greatest crime-solving tools since I’ve been in law enforcement, and I’ve been doing it 43 years.”