A Discussion About Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) 2023 04 07
The short version: A 2023 Los Altos Community Coalition panel with Renee Rashid revisits the ALPR debate, showing local pushback on Flock-style surveillance predates today's headlines.
Our Take
Credit to the Los Altos Community Coalition for hosting this 2023 discussion with Renee Rashid of Los Altos for Racial Equity — it's a reminder that concerns about automated license plate readers didn't just show up with this year's news cycle. Communities have been quietly wrestling with these systems for years, often in city council chambers and community forums that never make it past the local paper, if they make it anywhere at all.
What stands out is how these conversations tend to center on the same core tension: police departments pitch ALPR networks as a narrow tool for finding stolen cars or Amber Alert vehicles, but the technology as deployed sweeps up every driver, logging where you go and when, indefinitely, whether or not you're suspected of anything. Racial equity groups have been especially sharp on this point because the data shows enforcement and surveillance infrastructure rarely lands evenly across a community — it's usually concentrated in the same neighborhoods that already deal with over-policing.
Two years on, Flock Safety's camera network has exploded nationwide, making these local, grassroots conversations more relevant than ever. If you want to see whether your own city has quietly wired itself up with these cameras, check our map, and if you're ready to push back like Los Altos residents did, our take-action guide has concrete steps for getting in front of your local council.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of Los Altos Community Coalition, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.