New license plate reader cameras installed around Schenectady
The short version: Schenectady police roll out 14 new Axon license plate readers as residents and reporters question oversight amid prior misuse concerns.
Our Take
Credit to CBS6 Albany for actually sitting down with Schenectady residents instead of just running the police department's press release. Fourteen new Axon ALPRs going up isn't a neutral infrastructure upgrade — it's fourteen more chokepoints logging every car that passes, time-stamped and searchable, often for years. And the fact that this expansion comes "amid misuse concerns" should be the headline, not a footnote.
This is the pattern we see city after city: a vendor pitches the cameras as a tool for solving car thefts or finding amber alerts, councils approve it with minimal public hearing, and only after installation do people start asking who can query the database, for how long, and whether out-of-state agencies or ICE can tap in. Schenectady residents raising privacy concerns now are doing the job that should've happened before contracts were signed.
If you live in or near Schenectady, don't wait for the next local news segment to find out where these cameras are — check our camera map to see what's already tracking your block, and head to our take-action page for tools to push your city council for real transparency and audit trails before the next 14 cameras go up.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of CBS6 Albany, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.