Police Misusing License Plate Readers #shorts

Our Take

Apex Media's short is a quick gut-check: the same networks sold to cities as "just for finding stolen cars" are being tapped by officers to track exes, neighbors, and people who've done nothing wrong. We can't verify the specifics of every claim in a 60-second video, but the pattern it points to is one we've documented again and again — audit logs with vague or missing justifications, "personal use" lookups buried in millions of scans, and little real-time oversight of who's searching whom.

This is the core problem with ALPR networks like Flock Safety's: once the cameras are up, the technology doesn't discriminate between a legitimate manhunt and an officer running a plate out of curiosity or spite. Policies promising audits and "authorized use only" sound reassuring until you realize enforcement almost always happens after the fact, if it happens at all. The infrastructure is built first and the accountability is bolted on later, usually only after a scandal breaks.

If a video like this makes you wonder what's watching your street, check our camera map to see nearby ALPR locations, and visit our take-action page for steps to push your city council for real transparency and audit requirements before more cameras go up.