SAN ANTONIO – Automated license plate readers (ALPR) are cameras mounted along roadways that photograph license plates and log where and when a vehicle was seen. One common ALPR used by law enforcement agencies is called a Flock camera, produced by the brand Flock Safety.
ALPR systems capture images of vehicle license plates and can also log details such as the vehicle’s make, model and color. Law enforcement agencies use the technology to search for vehicles tied to investigations such as stolen vehicles, missing person cases and violent crimes.
A map from DeFlock.org, a website tracking the spread of ALPR technology and raising privacy concerns, shows automated plate readers in use across the country, including in South Texas.
The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office publishes a public transparency portal showing the scope of its ALPR use. The agency has 35 cameras that have collectively read more than 700,000 license plates in the last 30 days, according to the portal.
In Guadalupe County, the Commissioners Court recently approved ending the county’s contract with Flock Safety.
County leaders cited repeated vandalism of the cameras and said the company refused to pay for damages.
There have also been issues in other areas of the country, like North Carolina and Georgia, as law enforcement officials misused these surveillance cameras.
Supporters of ALPR cameras argue the technology helps law enforcement quickly locate people they’re searching for — whether that’s a suspect connected to a violent crime or a vehicle associated with an AMBER Alert.
The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) also operates ALPRs across Texas.
“As part of continued efforts to improve public safety, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) has installed automated license plate readers (ALPR) across Texas – including in Medina, Guadalupe and Bexar Counties – within several state rights-of-ways following authorization by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and once appropriate TxDOT state roadway permits were issued,” DPS wrote in a statement.
DPS said it uses the technology to help investigators locate suspects or missing persons, recover stolen property, identify suspicious vehicles and develop timelines in criminal investigations.
DPS said it cannot provide an exact number of cases ALPRs have helped solve, but described the systems as “very effective.”
DPS provided recent examples, including a San Antonio home invasion where ALPR hits helped identify the location of suspect Rodney Robinson III and led to the arrest of him and multiple other suspects.
DPS troopers were also able to identify a vehicle and people involved in a deadly crash in June.
DPS, in addition to BCSO, has used ALPR to assist with AMBER Alerts and other missing person cases, too.
Supporters of the cameras told KSAT they agree with them because they are “great for tracking a missing person or violent criminals.”
Opponents, however, worry about how surveillance systems could be misused and raise questions about privacy, oversight and how long data is stored.
Several law enforcement officials in Georgia have been fired over misuse of Flock cameras.
“Only law enforcement agencies that have signed agreements with the department have access to footage and images collected by DPS ALPRs,” DPS told KSAT in a statement.
Even with the debate, ALPR cameras are expected to remain widely used across the San Antonio area.
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