BUCKEYE POLICE DEPARTMENT | ALPRs, SCHOOL SAFETY, WEST VALLEY PARTNERSHIPS | APRIL 2024

Our Take

Credit to Jen's Two Cents for sitting down with Buckeye PD's Public Information Officer Carissa Planalp, but this is a textbook example of how ALPR networks get sold to communities: a friendly, local-interest format, a police spokesperson doing the talking, and 'school safety' and 'regional partnerships' as the headline framing. What's missing is any independent voice asking the harder questions — how long is plate data retained, who else can query it, and what oversight exists once Buckeye's cameras are plugged into a regional or statewide network shared with other West Valley agencies.

That's the pattern we track at DeFlock The USA: once one department buys in, 'partnership' language becomes the justification for every neighboring city to follow, and before long a resident's daily movements are logged across jurisdictional lines with no public vote on the tradeoffs. School safety is a real concern, but it doesn't require building a permanent vehicle-tracking grid that outlives any single threat. Check our camera map to see what's already been deployed near Buckeye and the broader West Valley.

If you're a West Valley parent or resident who heard this interview and wants more than PR reassurances, push your city council for the actual data-sharing agreements and retention policies — our take-action page has steps for doing exactly that.