TEMPE, AZ — The Tempe City Council voted last week to approve a 60-day trial of Axon’s automated license plate readers (ALPRs), making it the latest Arizona city to look for alternatives to Flock Safety cameras.
The pilot program includes 3 Axon Outpost ALPRs, allowing the city to see how the technology functions and can integrate with existing police systems. Axon is providing the cameras at no cost to the city.
Like other ALPRs, Axon cameras use artificial intelligence to capture data on every car that passes. The information is automatically compared to stolen-vehicle lists, and police can search the data for possible getaway cars near crime scenes.
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"If the technology is used properly with the right kinds of safeguards, it can actually lead to justice for victims and, frankly, bring people to justice who’ve committed very heinous crimes," Tempe Mayor Corey Woods said.
Tempe currently uses Flock cameras. However, as the ABC15 Investigators told you last month, three other Arizona cities have already canceled their Flock contracts.
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South Tucson, Flagstaff, and Sedona canceled their contracts and removed their Flock cameras after facing public pushback at city council meetings in the last year.
Residents had expressed concerns over privacy, mass surveillance, and potential misuse of the Flock cameras. Nationally, there were specific fears that the data would be shared with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Flock Safety has stated its cameras "do not track people" and pointed to system safeguards like data retention limits and permanent audit records.
Axon's contract with Tempe specifies that its data will not be shared with any external agency, entity, or user without specific approval. Axon is a Scottsdale-based company that also manufactures police body-worn cameras and Tasers.
At the state level, Sen. Kevin Payne introduced Senate Bill 1111 this year to regulate the use of automated license plate readers. The bill would require law enforcement users to provide a case number for every search and make it a felony to access, share, or sell the data without authorization.
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