The setup
ALPRs are used to rapidly scan license plates for any potential matches with national law enforcement and missing persons databases. Austin police used the data collection program for years before it was shelved amid elected officials' reallocation of public safety programs and funding in 2020.
Two years later, City Council moved to revive the program that many police leaders and community members credit for successful investigations into many serious crimes. Ahead of the program's return, some council members expressed reservations about the possible extent of the surveillance tool and its impact on privacy and civil liberties, especially given other law enforcement agencies' ability to request data from the city's system.
Council eventually considered bringing ALPRs back on the streets with several guardrails. Those were meant to limit the collection of license plate information, keep motorists' data from being improperly used and prevent broad enforcement beyond select criminal investigations.
Law enforcement supporters hailed the program's return as an update that could support a short-handed police force and help catch more criminals in the city, while some community members pushed back on the expanded policing tool and its potential for misuse. Austin was one of several Texas cities to expand its use of ALPRs in the past few years including neighbors like Lakeway and West Lake Hills.
Plans for a modified trial run in Austin with added oversight were approved in spring 2023. The city's pilot program launched last March—with a requirement for further council review and approval before it could continue beyond one year. The city's first year contract with security company Flock Safety cost $144,000 with future years to cost $244,000 annually, if authorized.
Current situation
One day before the pilot period ended, officials voted for a three-month extension that'll keep the program in place through June. Under the plan approved in 2023, they'll be briefed on a comprehensive audit of the program in May before deciding on any next steps.
APD has linked the system with cameras in officers' vehicles and placed 40 fixed ALPR cameras around the city, with a higher concentration downtown. In just the past month, Austin's ALPR system detected more than 641,000 vehicles, leading to nearly 1,200 "hot list" hits for potentially suspect vehicles and more than 2,500 data searches, according to Flock.
Police Chief Lisa Davis called Austin's ALPR's an "effective investigative tool" that led to 176 stolen vehicle recoveries and 165 arrests in the past year.
"Individuals were arrested for a variety of felony offenses, including murder, robbery, aggravated assault, sexual assault, kidnapping, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle (auto theft), and assault with injury," she said in a March 25 memo. "This tool is integral to the plan for reducing violent crime citywide. APD continues to evaluate the success of this program and will share all future audits by request."
The temporary continuation of APD's license plate readers came with added reservations about the data collection program and its impact on residents from the council dais. The item drew some public testimony against the move, and the program was extended in an 8-3 vote with council members Natasha Harper-Madison, Mike Siegel and Zo Qadri against.
Put in perspective
Ahead of the vote, Siegel expressed concern with the "mass surveillance program" he said could negatively impact some, like immigrants and those seeking reproductive or gender-related health care, groups that city officials have recently sought to limit enforcement against. Those considerations are more relevant today than a few years ago, he said, given recent changes in law enforcement practices under President Donald Trump.
"I would say that things have changed since the city council last considered this policy. In particular what has changed is how federal power is being weaponized against many communities," Siegel said.
Qadri said he had serious concerns with the program when it was first considered in 2023. As of this year, he also pointed to its potential use against "vulnerable communities" and on immigration enforcement as reasons holding back his support.
"I believe those concerns are not only relevant, but have become even more urgent," he said.
APD Assistant Chief Jeff Greenwalt shared more details on how Austin police and other law enforcement officers can use the system during a brief March 25 discussion about the program, ahead of council's vote.
For example, he said program guidelines generally keep Austin police from using a "hit" in the ALPR system for pretext stops unrelated to a specific crime under investigation, a practice he said would be against the spirit of the council-directed policies. He also said APD can generally withhold ALPR data being sought by other agencies—except for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement—and that Austin police received "absolutely zero" outside information requests during the one-year pilot.
Siegel also noted federal immigration authority recently being used to prosecute legal residents for political reasons, citing ICE's detention of graduate student Mahmoud Khalil and Attorney General Pam Bondi's labeling of those allegedly vandalizing Tesla property as domestic terrorists. Siegel said the ICE data-sharing requirement was one reason for his "no" vote.
“My concerns regarding the policy are basically based in civil liberties, and to the extent we’re potentially funding a surveillance program that can be captured or commandeered by the same federal government that is repressing rights and attacking our community members," he said March 25.
Council's next look at the program and its possible extension will come after the pilot program audit report is finalized this spring.
Gracie Warhurst contributed to this report.
