This far from settles the ALPR debate. Using a tool IS NOT evidence the tool was necessary: police here also had a witness, private camera footage, and ballistics. Actual scaled research assessing if ALPRs raise case closure rates, especially for violent crime, is thin and has no clear correlation.

ALXnow@alxnow.bsky.social · 5d ago

License plate reader helped track down West End murder suspect, police chief says

An automated license plate reader system goes live Friday in the parking garage at Park + Ford, a 435-unit apartment building on Ford Avenue, over the objections of 109 residents who signed a petition asking management to stop it.

License plate readers go live Friday at a West End apartment building

A petition signed by 109 residents asked Bozzuto to stop the rollout. Metropolis says its platform is opt-in; the building told residents an account is required to keep parking.

dlvr.it

APD just hired Dr. Robin Engel, who also consulted with Denver, CO on ALPRs. Per ACLU: After Dr. Engel gave her blessing, Denver switched ALPR vendors W/O real input and without creating critical guidelines to protect privacy and personal info. Do you want this for ALX? If not, speak today!

Alexandria police to publish map of Flock camera locations, conduct surveillance systems audit | ALXnow

The Alexandria Police Department will release a map of automated license plate reader (ALPR) camera locations across the city by Oct. 1, the same day that it begins a third-party audit of its surveill...

alxnow.com

People around ALX “actually don't want convenience at the cost of our privacy, safety and wellness.” It’s just common sense.

Ryan Belmore@ryanbelmore.com · last wk.

Got beat on this one. Worked on it most of the day. It happens... I've got the petition, the management correspondence and Metropolis's written answers to residents, plus questions out to both companies. If the answers add anything, I'll report it. www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/n...

APD says ALPRs don't do facial recognition. But once the data exists, third parties can AI-augment it with personalized profiles, including racial and gender analysis. Was that risk weighed before these cameras went up in ALX? No. ALX must take ALPRs down now and build a real review process!

Jason Koebler@jasonkoebler.bsky.social · last wk.

new: A third-party surveillance company is telling cops that it wants to add facial recognition to Flock footage and ALPR reads to help them "close the gap" in what Flock offers. Company offers racial analysis, gender analysis, behavior analysis www.404media.co/surveillance...

👋 Hi there #AlxSkeets! You may have wondered who is behind Eyes Off ALX - We are Alexandria neighbors who nerd out (prob too much) on law, tech, and government. We’re channeling it to help improve our city's tech decisions + protect your privacy, security, and rights. Learn more at EyesOffALX.org!

Eyes Off ALX — Turn off Flock. Turn on oversight.

Eyes Off ALX works to ensure Alexandria, VA's technology decisions protect residents' privacy, security, and rights. Current campaign: turn off Flock.

eyesoffalx.org

👋 Hi there #AlxSkeets! You may have wondered who is behind Eyes Off ALX - We are Alexandria neighbors who nerd out (prob too much) on law, tech, and government. We’re channeling it to help improve our city's tech decisions + protect your privacy, security, and rights. Learn more at EyesOffALX.org!

Eyes Off ALX — Turn off Flock. Turn on oversight.

Eyes Off ALX works to ensure Alexandria, VA's technology decisions protect residents' privacy, security, and rights. Current campaign: turn off Flock.

eyesoffalx.org

Was chewing on 🥯 & ideas @ Chewish this morning: ALX neighbors who work in privacy, consumer protection, human rights, and tech started Eyes Off ALX. But what do folks in other fields want to know about these topics? Reply, DM, or 📧 hello@eyesoffalx.org. We’re here to spread knowledge & help ALX!

Yes, the lack of US data privacy is a big issue. But our local gov can take meaningful action to improve privacy today. Massive amounts of VC money are pouring into surveillance tech companies like Flock BECAUSE that data access is uniquely valuable! It’s not the same as data on your cell phone!

Alert: Seats still available right now at the APD public meeting re: Flock. If you are in Del Ray, please come to Duncan Library and show APD the community is concerned about unaccountable mass surveillance tech deployed in our city!

Alert: Eyes Off ALX needs your help TODAY (9/24)! APD’s delayed clarifications on its ALPR policy do NOT acknowledge tech risks/harms. We need folks to show up and demand real accountability. Meet us tonight @ 5:30pm Pork Barrel, then come w/ us to APD’s 6:30pm public session @ Duncan Library!

If you want an excellent primer on why Flock needs to get out of ALX (and should not be replaced), watch today’s Senate hearing: www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_yM... We will be sharing key points from the hearing @ the Eyes Off ALX meetup tomorrow, 9/24, 5:30pm at Pork Barrel BBQ. Hope to see you there!

LIVE: Josh Hawley Probes Flock Surveillance Network In Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing

YouTube video by Forbes Breaking News

youtube.com

Alert: Eyes Off ALX needs your help tmrw (9/24)! APD’s delayed clarifications on its ALPR policy do NOT acknowledge tech risks/harms. We need folks to show up and demand real accountability. Meet us tmrw, 9/24 @ 5:30pm Pork Barrel, then come w/ us to APD’s 6:30pm public session @ Duncan Library!

Alert: Eyes Off ALX needs your help tmrw (9/24)! APD’s delayed clarifications on its ALPR policy do NOT acknowledge tech risks/harms. We need folks to show up and demand real accountability. Meet us tmrw, 9/24 @ 5:30pm Pork Barrel, then come w/ us to APD’s 6:30pm public session @ Duncan Library!

Regarding AI - also ALPRs - xkcd.com/2030/

Voting Software

xkcd.com

ALL OF THIS. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 Eyes Off ALX members have been making these points to city stakeholders for MONTHS! There is no reason ALX should still have a contract with Flock, an irresponsible tech vendor who the city’s designated tech advisors argue is ACTIVELY harming Alexandrians. Enough already.

Becky Hammer@beckyhammer.bsky.social · 3w ago

Happy Friday, Alexandria! We're placing litigious grocery orders, tossing our bratwurst, and telling mass surveillance to go Flock itself in today's issue of ALXtra with @oconnell.bsky.social:

Mark your calendars. ALX police department has said it has identified two tentative dates for community listening sessions on Flock and ALPRs, Sept. 24 and Oct. 7, at locations on the east and west sides of the city. We will send updates with more information, so be sure to sign up at EyesOffALX.org

Eyes Off ALX — Turn off Flock. Turn on oversight.

Alexandria police have run license plate cameras since 2023. City Council has never taken a vote on it. Eyes Off ALX is a campaign for surveillance oversight in Alexandria, Virginia.

eyesoffalx.org

The Alexandria Brief@alexandriabrief.com · 3w ago

APD answers council's Flock questions: a 2027 contract end date, an outside audit by Oct. 1, and 12 agencies cut off

EyesOffALX will be making a public comment tonight. You should join us! DM if you want ideas for Flock/ALPR comments framed for IT Commission interests. Or, if you can’t join today, go to EyesOffALX.org and sign up for email updates on these types of community feedback opportunities!

Eyes Off ALX — Turn off Flock. Turn on oversight.

Alexandria police have run license plate cameras since 2023. City Council has never taken a vote on it. Eyes Off ALX is a campaign for surveillance oversight in Alexandria, Virginia.

eyesoffalx.org

The Alexandria Brief@alexandriabrief.com · 3w ago

Tonight, 7 p.m.: Police Chief Tarrick McGuire and APD representatives are on the Commission on Information Technology docket for a 30-minute "Public Safety Technology Discussion & Advisory Review." Lee Center, Conference Room 4, or by Zoom. www.alexandriava.gov/sites/defaul...

They are called “license plate readers”, but much more than license plates can be captured…. Don’t be fooled!

404 Media@404media.co · 3w ago

While people around the U.S. are tearing down Flock cameras, one group of hackers went a step further: extracting the camera's software too. @evystadium.bsky.social has more. Full investigation by @josephcox.bsky.social and @wired.com’s @dmehro.bsky.social here: www.404media.co/hackers-stol...

The difference is one captures anyone's data at any time, while the other only captures data of assholes at the time they are engaged in asshole behavior.

Ryan Belmore@ryanbelmore.com · 3w ago

Follow along: one group is asking Alexandria to install one kind of camera. Another is asking the city to remove a different kind. Two stories, same week, no overlap (yet) in the conversation.

Power requires checks and balances: Convincing a judge with evidence and probable cause. Public transparency on motives behind and use of powerful tools. Independent auditors. ALX needs real checks and balance protections for surveillance tech in this city. Not just “audits” by the audited.

Electronic Frontier Foundation@eff.org · 3w ago

1/3 Here's a riddle: Why did a Goshen Police Department officer search 6,474 automated license plate reader (ALPR) networks, representing data from 82,413 cameras, on May 7, 2025? www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...

On the city’s current ALPR “transparency”portal: - It doesn't list what Alx police can search. - The Alexandria Sheriff's Office operates its own readers, doesn't appear on the Alx police list, and publishes no portal at all. - We have “two agencies, one city, half a picture.” 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

Ryan Belmore | Substack

Owner & Publisher, The Alexandria Brief & What's Up Newp. Nearly 15 years in local independent journalism. Covering the city I call home. 📍Alexandria, VA via Newport, RI

ryanbelmore.com

The Alexandria Brief@alexandriabrief.com · 4w ago

Belmore's Notebook: Flock, fountains and a fraud case

Feels like a good day to share on topic hope and a pinch of whimsy.

Kemedriels wife💍@galadrielswife.bsky.social · 2mo ago

A group of Gandalfs at Peter Thiel’s house protesting against mass surveillance😭

👀 FYI - Highlighting VA-wide ALPR “guardrails” is a toothless talking point. In Jan. 2026, the VSCC made clear that VA’s statutory guardrails have not stopped VA police departments from prohibited out-of-state sharing practices.

Goad (Legal Expert)@goad.bsky.social · 4w ago

Hello fellow legal experts. It's time for crime. The Virginia State Crime Commission is meeting now. Today's agenda is about the Mary Jane Burton Case File. But the issue I am waiting for is a study of ALPRs (like Flock) in Virginia. That study will be released November 1.

Four police agencies, one state law, four different sets of rules for license plate cameras

Four police agencies, one state law, four different sets of rules for license plate cameras

Two adopted the state's model policy. Two wrote their own. They differ on how long data is kept, how much of it gets audited, and whether you can find out what the system holds about you.

dlvr.it

The only kind of flock we need in Alexandria

Kursten Phelps, Executive Function Coach@one-less-tab.bsky.social · 4w ago

🎶West End Goats 🎶

At tonight’s city meeting, Mayor @alyia4alx.bsky.social stated the obvious: Flock needs to go. And police tech needs accountability. APD proposed a cherry-picked third party tech auditor, and the CM suggested such a contract is near done. Should the audited pick their auditor? What do you think?

APD: Don’t worry about our mass surveillance tech! We have a policy we self-govern. Just trust us. LOCAL NEWS: APD not clearly answering tech Qs. APD policy was ignored. APD pushing back on data limits. ALX: Maybe we should have a public process to verify police tech need, use, etc… ACLU: 👍👏😉

Chad Marlow@chadmarlow.bsky.social · 2mo ago

The ACLU is leading the fight against these invasive policing surveillance technologies. And the solution John Oliver calls for? That’s the ACLU’s Community Control Over Police Surveillance (CCOPS) effort. If your municipality doesn't have a CCOPS law yet, adopt one! www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnBP...

Today, ALX is focused on Flock ALPRs. But simple City Council questions and requests to APD are getting ignored, per @alexandriabrief.com’s reporting. This pattern won’t end with ALPRs, unless we demand change. Follow for updates on how other cities have fixed this issue. #FlockOff #OversightOn

Electronic Frontier Foundation@eff.org · 3mo ago

Right now, the only thing holding back most police from deploying armed drones and robots is the policies of companies and the social stigma surrounding the issue. Neither of these will hold forever. We need regulation. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...