Are ALPR Cameras Watching You? Shasta County Residents Fight Back

Our Take

Credit to Action News Now for getting Shasta County residents on camera to say what a lot of Americans are starting to feel: these camera networks showed up fast, with little public debate, and now everyone's plate is logged every time they drive to church, the pharmacy, or a protest. That's the pattern with Flock Safety and similar ALPR systems nationwide — a city council vote buried in a routine meeting, a vendor demo promising to catch stolen cars, and suddenly there's a permanent record of where you've been.

What rarely gets mentioned in the sales pitch is who else can access that data. Flock's networks share hits across jurisdictions and, in some documented cases, with federal agencies and out-of-state police hunting for things like abortion-related travel or immigration status — not just the stolen Honda the brochure talks about. Rural counties like Shasta are often targeted because there's less organized opposition and fewer reporters asking hard questions, which makes local pushback like this especially important.

If you want to see whether your own neighborhood already has these cameras installed, check our camera map. And if you'd rather not wait for a news crew to show up in your town, our take-action page has concrete steps for getting ALPRs on your city council's agenda before the contract is already signed.