By admin 
SURPRISE, AZ (AZFamily) — The City of Surprise is ending its partnership with a controversial license plate reader program.
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Less than a week after a police officer was placed on leave for potentially using the camera system, Surprise said Monday that it canceled its contract with Flock Safety and asked for all equipment to be removed.
The city launched its investigation into a potential violation involving automated license plate readers (ALPR) on Aug. 12, and the officer involved was placed on leave until the investigation is completed.
The city began using the ALPR technology more than two years ago and said it has helped solve numerous crimes.
Last week, Flock Safety Founder and CEO Garrett Langley told Vanity Fair his technology could have cracked the high-profile disappearance of Nancy Guthrie.
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Although departments in the state and across the country have pointed to the service’s benefits, there have been multiple other reports of officers in the Valley misusing the cameras:
- Chandler police officer resigns, admits to misusing Flock cameras
- Apache Junction officer resigns after misusing Flock cameras to track wife
- Goodyear police officer investigated for possible Flock camera misuse
Tempe Police also recently announced the department stopped all data sharing from Flock cameras after the community raised privacy concerns and amid reports of other cities’ misuse of the technology.
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