License Plate Scanner Newest High-Tech Crime Fighting Tool

Our Take

Local TV news loves a good gee-whiz gadget story, and CBS Chicago's package on license plate scanners fits the formula: a police spokesperson, a shot of a camera on a pole, and the word "technology" doing a lot of heavy lifting. Credit to the CBS Chicago team for putting the story on air at all, but the segment treats ALPR cameras like a new squad car or a better radio — just another tool cops picked up — instead of what it actually is: a networked surveillance system quietly logging the movements of everyone who drives past, whether or not they're suspected of anything.

That's the part local news segments like this one routinely skip. Flock Safety and similar vendors have blanketed Chicago-area suburbs with cameras that capture plate numbers, timestamps, and vehicle details, building a searchable travel history that can be queried by any agency plugged into the network — sometimes across state lines, sometimes without a warrant. "Crime fighting tool" is the pitch departments give reporters; it's rarely the whole picture, and it's almost never accompanied by hard numbers on how many actual crimes get solved versus how many plates get scanned and logged for no reason at all.

If you live in the Chicago area, or anywhere really, it's worth checking whether these cameras have shown up on your street. Our camera map tracks known ALPR locations nationwide, and our take-action page has tools for pushing back at your next city council meeting. Local news will keep running the "newest high-tech crime fighting tool" segment — someone has to ask the follow-up questions.