The overview
APD's use of automated license plate readers, or ALPRs, was suspended in 2020. Led by former council member Mackenzie Kelly, a push to revive the ALPRs resulted in city officials setting new policies for privacy and data collection.
While touted as a much-needed crime-fighting tool, the ALPRs have also generated some community concerns related to police surveillance, the use of data collected by license plate readers, and Austin's ability to keep that information private. City Council eventually voted to bring back ALPRs on a conditional basis, limiting the program to a one-year trial and requiring a city audit before it could continue.
Austin's ALPRs are meant to cross-reference vehicle data with law enforcement "hot lists," and only for the investigation of certain crimes. License plate data must also be deleted within one week of collection under council-approved policy.
The program officially started in late March 2024 and ran for a full year. A temporary extension in March allowed the audit process to wrap up before a decision on the program's long-term future is made in June. Ahead of that vote, council was briefed on the one-year audit May 19.
The details
Hundreds of ALPRs scanned more than 75 million license plates across Austin from March-December 2024, city auditors reported. Thousands of license plates were matched to local or national hot lists from those scans, the city audit found, leading to more than 160 arrests and dozens of prosecutions.
Police Chief Lisa Davis told council members that Austin is now on the right track and going beyond peer cities with its ALPR management. And in a recent interview, Davis said she believes the program has been an early success and wants to ensure its ethical continuation.
“The ALPR itself is very valuable. ... We've already shown that," she said in early May. "We have solved kidnappings and homicides and aggravated robberies, all of those more serious, to getting a stolen car back."
Zooming in
APD ALPRs include 40 fixed-location Flock Safety cameras and more than 500 Axon Enterprise vehicle-mounted cameras. The two companies have different contracts with Austin, one of which auditors and city officials noted may be in conflict with local policies.
Flock's contract includes a provision granting the law enforcement technology company "non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual, royalty-free right and license" to indefinitely use license plate information scanned across Austin, auditors reported. That possibility remains in play despite city officials' desire to quickly delete data like license plate numbers and vehicle photos, and keep it from broader public use.
Along with the abridged audit—covering only nine of the ALPR program's first 12 months—Mayor Pro Tem Vanessa Fuentes said she didn't have trust in the city's process leading to a contract that could go beyond intended local limits. Chris Coppola, a division chief in the Law Department, said staff had clarified Flock's intent before finalizing the contract, although current language remains ambiguous and could be clarified.
"With the Trump administration’s relentless attacks on immigrants and reproductive rights, the ALPR audit underscores the danger of collecting sensitive data without clear safeguards. We cannot risk this technology being used to target vulnerable Austinites," Fuentes said in a statement.
Others also asked audit staff and police officials for more context on the program and ALPR safeguards. Council member Marc Duchen asked for more information about the program's full first year, including early 2025, before deciding on the program's extension. He also questioned how critical the program was for local police efforts; Askew said several cases would've had more lengthy investigations or remained unsolved without information gathered by ALPRs.
Council members Chito Vela and Mike Siegel pressed about the extent of data collection and Flock contract details. Siegel flagged language that may allow Flock to use Austinites' data for any purpose, keeping individuals' information for much longer than seven days and without making it anonymous. He also worried that data could be fed into machine learning programs.
In a statement after the May 19 review, Siegel said the audit confirmed his stance that ALPRs shouldn't be used in Austin.
"We risk the safety and liberty of our residents by funding an electronic dragnet that can be utilized by other law enforcement agencies that are hostile to the civil and human rights of our residents. We cannot trust [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] or DPS to respect our local policies to protect reproductive rights, gender-affirming care, freedom of speech, and the safety of our immigrant communities; and we should not create evidence for those agencies to use against our residents," he said. "I hope my colleagues will join me in ending the ALPR experiment next month.”
Under its interim extension, the program will expire June 30 unless council votes to maintain it.
