{"id":693,"date":"2026-05-21T21:04:33","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T21:04:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=693"},"modified":"2026-05-21T21:04:33","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T21:04:33","slug":"license-plate-readers-safety-or-surveillance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=693","title":{"rendered":"License plate readers: Safety or surveillance?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) – Sierra Vista and South Tucson both ended contracts for automated license plate readers after residents raised concerns about surveillance and data privacy.<\/p>\n

Read more Deadly crash shuts down part of Tangerine Road<\/a><\/p>\n

In Sierra Vista, the city accepted a grant last year from the Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs for Flock cameras, the most common license plate readers. <\/p>\n

Police Chief Chris Hiser said the cameras arrived as a nationwide debate about the technology was starting to peak.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy the time they showed up was about the time this nationwide debate was starting to peak and then they\u2019re showing up here, so people reaching out to me, out to the council saying, we don\u2019t like this,\u201d Hiser said.<\/p>\n

How the cameras work<\/h2>\n

The cameras record license plates, vehicle color, make, model and details like stickers or bike racks. Flock does not incorporate facial recognition.<\/p>\n

Data stays in the cloud for 30 days, then is permanently deleted unless it\u2019s being used in an investigation.<\/p>\n

Public concern centered on the potential for surveillance or leaked private information. The Sierra Vista City Council and police department responded to the feedback.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe council gave the direction – \u2018we want you to end the contract,\u2019 Which I completely respect. They\u2019re almost all gone now,\u201d Hiser said.<\/p>\n

Two out of 16 cameras remain in Sierra Vista. Both are turned off and should be picked up by Flock this month.<\/p>\n

Law enforcement use and concerns<\/h2>\n

Flock advertises that 15 percent of reported crime in the U.S. is solved using its cameras, with almost 3,000 crimes solved each day in 6,000 communities. In southern Arizona, law enforcement says license plate readers have helped crack drug smuggling, kidnapping, sex offender and murder cases. <\/p>\n

Hiser says they rose in popularity when Southern Arizona was seeing a surge in dangerous high-speed pursuits. License plate readers create a \u201chot list\u201d of vehicles that are potentially stolen or linked to a missing person. Still, he said he is not rushing to replace the cameras.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really believe these are an important tool if used correctly, if supervised correctly, and also the data is secured,\u201d Hiser said. \u201cIf we revisit this down the road, it would probably just be a few license plate readers and we would really dive into things like data privacy and security.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018Star-shaped\u2019 UFO spotted in newly released video<\/a><\/p>\n

Sierra Vista will be watching closely as Cochise County, which also blocked Flock cameras this year, looks for a platform that balances public trust.<\/p>\n

Arian Chavez, a University of Arizona student, wants to see all Flock cameras come down, including more than 60 at the university.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoes that feel like a win to you that a place like Sierra Vista listened?\u201d Chavez was asked. \u201cAbsolutely, it should be taken as a win, but also as an example of our people power.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chavez said the money \u201ccould be used to better our lives instead of spying on us.\u201d<\/p>\n

He referred to reported incidents of unauthorized data sharing with federal agencies and third parties, and public exposure of feeds online.<\/p>\n

Flock says recorded images do not violate privacy rights because all of the information is in plain sight.<\/p>\n

According to Flock, federal agencies don\u2019t have access without a department\u2019s approval.<\/p>\n

Flock spokeswoman Lily Hoe said in a statement, \u201cBack door access does not exist. Customers have complete control over sharing and Flock never shares data without their permission. Collaboration with federal agencies is the customer\u2019s choice.\u201d<\/p>\n

South Tucson also ended its contract with Flock after community pushback.<\/p>\n

More than 200 automated license plate readers are in the Tucson metro area, according to data collected by \u201cDeflock,\u201d a grass roots organization working to stop license plate reader use by law enforcement. Arizona has no specific laws regulating them. The Tucson Police Department uses Verkada and Axon readers, not Flock, and says it does not share information with ICE Enforcement and Removal operations.<\/p>\n

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Read more Life jackets are a must for Memorial Day boaters at Patagonia Lake<\/a><\/p>\n

You can submit your breaking news or weather images here.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Southern Arizona law enforcement agencies, leaders, and drivers navigate license plate reader use.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":692,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nLicense plate readers: Safety or surveillance? - Tucson Moving Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=693\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"License plate readers: Safety or surveillance? - Tucson Moving Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Southern Arizona law enforcement agencies, leaders, and drivers navigate license plate reader use.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=693\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tucson Moving Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-21T21:04:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=693#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=693\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/71841c7d449e6ab1ace6bce2f5277255\"},\"headline\":\"License plate readers: Safety or surveillance?\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-21T21:04:33+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=693\"},\"wordCount\":739,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=693#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/c93f38472a2101b88f2d11a7d0242570.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=693#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=693\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=693\",\"name\":\"License plate readers: Safety or surveillance? 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