Privacy vs. public safety: Cheektowaga residents debate adding more license plate reader cameras
The short version: WKBW's report on Cheektowaga's ALPR expansion shows a familiar script: officials sell 'public safety,' residents raise privacy alarms, and few ask who actually controls the data.
Our Take
Credit to WKBW TV for getting Cheektowaga residents on camera pushing back, even a little, on the town's plan to add more license plate readers. This is the same playbook we've watched roll out in suburb after suburb: a police department points to a handful of solved cases, local leaders nod along, and the actual terms of the surveillance deal — who hosts the data, how long it's kept, which outside agencies can query it — barely get mentioned on air.
That's the part that should worry Cheektowaga residents more than the cameras themselves. Flock's pitch is always framed as 'safety,' but these networks create a searchable log of everywhere your car goes, shared across a growing web of police departments with little independent auditing. Once that infrastructure is installed, it rarely shrinks — it expands, quietly, camera by camera, town by town.
If you're in the Buffalo suburbs, check our camera map to see what's already tracking plates near you, and if Cheektowaga moves forward with this expansion, don't let it happen without a public records fight over the contract terms. Our take-action page has steps for pushing your town council to answer the questions the news segment didn't.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of WKBW TV | Buffalo, NY, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.