Surveillance state
The short version: PullupsPastaPolitics breaks down Denver's new Axon surveillance deal, a warning sign that ALPRs and facial recognition are creeping into more city budgets nationwide.
Our Take
Credit to PullupsPastaPolitics for connecting the dots on Denver's approval of Axon's surveillance package. These deals rarely get framed honestly to the public — they're pitched as "public safety tools" when in reality they bundle license plate readers, camera networks, and facial recognition tech under one vendor contract, often with little debate about who gets access to the data or how long it's kept.
This is exactly the pattern we track: a city council votes yes on a pilot program or a single vendor contract, and suddenly there's a permanent surveillance layer watching every car that moves through town. Axon's growing footprint in local government means the same company selling tasers and body cams is now positioning itself as the backbone of municipal surveillance infrastructure — a conflict of interest that deserves way more scrutiny than it gets.
If you want to see how far this has already spread, check our camera map to find ALPRs near you, and if your city is considering a similar deal, head to take-action for tools to push back before the contract gets signed.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of PullupsPastaPolitics, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.