Is Your City Surveilling You and Your Family?

When I started hearing that we—free citizens in America—are being surveilled by various cameras throughout many types of public spaces, I thought, “No Way! That only happens in Communist countries like China and Russia, right?” Well, I guess we can’t assume anything when power and money are involved.  

We want you to meet Jen Barber. She’s an independent Arizona journalist and former investigative producer with more than 30 years of experience including in top U.S. news markets. A longtime community advocate, she now leads Jen’s Two Cents. and the Jen and Friends podcast, where she reports on local politics, education, and public transparency across Arizona. Find her YouTube and Substack channels through her website at http://www.wvfjenandfriends.com. 

This week she shares with us a valuable resource that keeps us informed and gives us a way to engage. Then we’ll also be better prepared to Vote for leaders who will reign in this dangerous government overreach! Jen gives us a guide that brings together quick links and reliable resources to help Arizonans learn more about license plate readers and mass surveillance cameras in their communities. It’s designed to be simple, useful, and easy to navigate — especially as local conversations grow.  

As a busy woman like you who also cares, she had me at ‘simple, useful and easy...’!! Thank you, Jen! ... READ her article and ENLIGHTEN your friends. 

Your Community, Your Data: A Public Surveillance Information Hub for Arizona Residents & Lawmakers An Investigative Report by Jen Barber 

What to Know 

There are two main types of license plate readers used across Arizona, and they serve very different purposes: 

1. Traffic-enforcement cameras — These include photo-radar speed cameras and red-light cameras. Their primary function is issuing civil or criminal traffic citations. In most cities, third-party vendors contract with local municipalities to install the cameras, operate them, review violations, and manage the citations issued on the city’s behalf. 

2. Law-enforcement ALPRs (Automatic License Plate Readers) — These AI-powered cameras capture still images of vehicles to log where a license plate was seen at a specific point in time. They are used for investigations, intelligence sharing, and locating vehicles of interest. 

The largest company deploying these investigative ALPR systems nationwide is Flock Safety, whose devices are commonly known as “Flock cameras.” Flock is a private technology company that sells automatic license plate reader systems to law enforcement agencies, neighborhoods, and HOA communities across the country. These cameras capture still images of passing vehicles, log license plate data, and allow participating agencies to search, share, and analyze that information under their own local policies. 

You’ve likely seen these cameras without realizing it — even FedEx trucks now carry AI-powered Flock devices and share their scans with law enforcement. 

Pros of License Plate Readers 

1. Aid in criminal investigations: ALPRs can help locate stolen vehicles, identify suspects, and track vehicles connected to Amber Alerts or missing-person cases. 

2. Real-time alerts: Systems can notify officers when a plate linked to an active case passes a camera. 

3. Traffic safety benefits: Speed and red-light cameras may reduce dangerous driving behaviors in high-risk areas. 

4. Force multiplier: Cameras can extend law enforcement visibility without requiring additional personnel. 

Data for trend analysis: Agencies can use ALPR data to understand traffic patterns or identify hotspots connected to specific crimes.   

Cons of License Plate Readers  

1. Privacy concerns: ALPRs collect data on all drivers, not just suspects, raising concerns about mass surveillance and long-term tracking. 

2. Data retention and sharing: Policies vary by city and state, and stored data may be shared with dozens or even hundreds of other agencies. 

3. Potential misuse: Without strong oversight, the data could be accessed for unauthorized purposes, as shown in documented misuse cases nationally. 

4. False positives: Misread plates can lead to unnecessary traffic stops or mistaken-identity incidents. 

5. Cost and contracts: Some systems require long-term vendor contracts - paid for by taxpayers - ongoing fees, or revenue-sharing models that may create financial or ethical concerns for municipalities.  

Learn What Your Government Has Stored on Your License Plates  

Learn what your government has stored on your license plates. When Investigative Journalist Jen Barber filed public-records requests for her own Flock Safety data in Goodyear and Prescott Valley, both cities returned the records quickly — revealing that Goodyear logged her plates 243 times in just six months. But while some Arizona jurisdictions comply without hesitation, others make it far more difficult for residents to access even their own data. Across the state, automated license-plate readers quietly capture and store millions of scans, creating detailed logs of people’s movements, yet access to that information varies wildly from city to city.  

What’s in YOUR Flock file?   Public Records Request Template  Under Arizona’s public records laws, you have the right to request and review any ALPR data your city or another Arizona jurisdiction has collected on your own license plate as you drive through areas equipped with this technology.  Download a sample letter below to request your license plate data and images.  

Americas Women Sample ALPR Data Request Letter.pdf

Download PDF • 103KB

Want to Take Action? Here’s Where to Start in Arizona 

Live Free AZ — A citizen-led website that provides templates, background information, and simple tools for residents who want to learn about or discuss surveillance cameras and license plate readers in their community. Useful for starting local conversations and requesting public records. Flock Safety — Privacy & Ethics. Flock offers agencies an optional transparency portal, but in Arizona fewer than a dozen cities currently use it. You can search your city name plus “Flock transparency portal” to see if one exists, or contact your local government agency to ask whether they provide public access to this information.   

Key Questions Lawmakers Can Ask About License Plate Readers 

If you’re a lawmaker looking to better understand how license plate readers are being used in your community, here are a few key questions to consider asking — and be sure to check whether your city held a fully public discussion and vote on the system, not just a consent-agenda approval or study session but an open meeting where council members and residents could engage the issue. 

1. What problem are we trying to solve? Is the purpose crime reduction, traffic enforcement, stolen-vehicle recovery, neighborhood monitoring, or something else? 

2. What type of ALPR system is being proposed? Is it photo-enforcement (speed/red-light) or investigative ALPR (vehicle-location tracking)? Who operates it? 

3. Who is the vendor, and what is the full scope of the contract? What are the costs, renewal terms, data-hosting fees, and cancellation rules? 

4. What data will be collected, and how long will it be retained? Does the retention period align with best practices, state law, and community expectations? 

5. Who has access to the data? Which local, state, or federal agencies can query or download the information, and what safeguards are in place to ensure that all sharing agencies follow your policies and restrictions? 

6. Is the system audited? What safeguards exist to prevent misuse, unauthorized lookups, or improper searches? 

7. How is transparency handled? Will the public receive annual reports? Is there a transparency portal? Are policies publicly posted and consistently updated? 

8. Are there clear usage policies? Do policies define permissible uses, prohibited uses, enforcement limits, and disciplinary consequences? 

9. What is the process for residents to access their own data? Do individuals know how to request information the city collects about their vehicles? 

10. What metrics will determine whether the program is successful? Will the city measure crime reduction, citation patterns, or community satisfaction? 

11. How are privacy concerns addressed? Does the city provide notice to residents? Are there opt-out options for neighborhoods? Has legal counsel reviewed civil-liberties implications? 

12. What happens to the data if the city ends the contract? Is information deleted, transferred, or retained by the vendor? 

Information Resource Spotlight 

ALPRs and How They Work — Congressional Research Service Report “Law Enforcement and Technology: Use of Automated License Plate Readers” (Aug 2024) — Covers how the technology works, how law enforcement uses it, policy/oversight questions. 

The Week article “The pros and cons of license-plate reader technology” — Offers a concise summary of benefits (crime solving, traffic enforcement) and drawbacks (inaccuracies, privacy concerns). 

Flock Safety blog post “6 Myths About License Plate Readers and Security Systems” — A vendor view, with claims about how LPRs help safe communities and how concerns are addressed. 

Verra Mobility is a technology company that partners with cities, municipalities and school districts to install and manage photo-enforcement systems (such as red-light and speed cameras) and related mobility solutions, including tolling and vehicle-registration management. 

Motorola Solutions License Plate Recognition Camera Systems — A portfolio of fixed, mobile and quick-deploy camera systems designed for law enforcement and public-safety agencies.  

Electronic Frontier Foundation — About Automated License Plate Readers [ALPR]