Fake Crime Tech? Millions Spent, Cases Ignored! #shorts

Our Take

Gunnar Clement's short cuts to the heart of the ALPR sales pitch: cities pay millions for license plate readers on the promise of crime-fighting magic, but when you ask for independent, audited proof that the cameras actually close cases, the silence is deafening. Houston isn't unique here — it's the pattern we see nationwide. Vendors tout anecdotes and press releases, not peer-reviewed data, and local officials rarely demand better before signing the next contract.

This matters because every one of these cameras is quietly logging the movements of everyone who drives past, not just suspects. When a city can't show its surveillance dragnet is solving real crimes at a rate that justifies the privacy cost, taxpayers deserve to ask why the program exists at all. 'Trust us, it works' isn't evidence — it's a marketing line, and it shouldn't be enough to keep scooping up millions of innocent people's travel patterns.

If you want to see whether Flock or other ALPR cameras are watching your own streets, check our camera map, and if you think your city council should have to answer the same effectiveness questions Houston is dodging, head to our take-action page to push back.