West Hartford’s police chief raised a good question in the town’s recent Public Safety Committee meeting.  The meeting was focused on Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs), cameras used by law enforcement to catch suspected criminals, recover stolen vehicles and locate missing persons.   Given that the town had installed ALPRs, through a vendor called Flock Safety in 2022, why all the flack now, four years later? The chief addressed his own question thoughtfully. He talked about erosion of public trust due to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) abuses. And, he cited cases in which out-of-state law enforcement officers have misused ALPRs to locate women seeking reproductive care in jurisdictions like Connecticut where abortion is legal. The chief also cited the country’s darker episodes of trampling on civil liberties, such as the internment of Japanese-Americans during the Second World War and the infamous Tuskegee experiments in which Black “subjects” were misled and denied healthcare resulting in painful deaths. We’re suggesting some additional reasons for the current flack about Flock. First, when  Flock Safety ALPRs were installed in West Hartford there was no prior public input. While the state requires public engagement before the installation of red light cameras and speed cameras, there is no such requirement for ALPRs. The upshot is that many of us in West Hartford were unaware that ALPRs had been installed. It’s clear from conversations with neighbors and on Facebook, that many of us conflate ALPRs with red light and speed cameras. The confusion about license plate readers appears widespread,  which makes sense as we’re only now becoming aware and trying to learn about them. Second, Americans are increasingly distrustful of corporations, especially those in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector. Flock Safety uses AI technology to read plate numbers along with characteristics of the vehicle and establishes patterns of movement over time. The 2025 “Edelman Trust Barometer” reveals extremely low public trust in corporations. They report fear of corporate misconduct at an all-time high and cite three reasons for that fear: high-profile corporate scandals, the perception that companies prioritize profits over people, and a growing concern about use of AI. West Hartford along with other municipal governments are asking us to trust ALPR companies like Flock Safety, an $8.4 billion private artificial intelligence company.  Many of us simply don’t. Flock Safety’s “Director of Public Trust and Technology,”  Max Weinstein, participated in  West Hartford’s August 4 Public Safety Committee meeting and answered questions from Town Council members, the Mayor, Town Manager, Police Chief, Deputy Chief and police Lieutenant. The meeting was virtual, with the public able to watch but not participate. Weinstein provided assurances that the town “owns the data” and that Flock Safety does not sell data. The next day, Ken Barone, Associate Director at the University of Connecticut’s Institute for Municipal and Regional Policy told WFSB, the local CBS affiliate, that standard Flock Safety contract language states “that the customer, the community, the police agency, grants FLOCK a limited, non-exclusive, royalty-free, irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide license to use and disclose the customer’s data.”   We do not understand the full implications of that sentence, but it does not sound good. We need more than the company’s word that our data is safe and our privacy protected. Public trust requires public engagement. It’s worth asking:  What builds public trust in government? Public trust is built on transparency and democratic engagement. As residents, we have submitted three Freedom of Information (FOIA) requests to the town in order to learn how our ALPR data is being accessed, for what purposes and by whom. We’ve been waiting for results for over four months. Democratic engagement includes a forum for public discussion, education and input. It is not too late for that: We are asking West Hartford for a public hearing on ALPRs following the release of information requested through the FOIA process. Data shows that people in Connecticut have greater trust in local government than in federal or even state government. This is also true nationally. It makes sense because local leaders are our neighbors, teachers, business owners and serve our shared community, often in a volunteer capacity.  We trust the West Hartford Police and town leaders and believe they have public safety and our best interests at heart. But this new technology raises questions. Community is where democracy starts. We can, and should, have the hard conversations at the local level about how to balance privacy and public safety with respect to ALPRs. But first we need to know what we’re dealing with and not just take a company’s word for it. This means understanding what happens with our data and hearing from subject matter experts in the fields of AI technology, civil liberties and privacy. Then, as a community we can debate, inquire and deliberate and ultimately make an informed collective decision about this technology going forward. In doing so, we strengthen democracy and our trust in each other. Bill Stevens, Robin Gilmartin, Scott Gamester and Arman Haidari are all West Hartford residents. ...read more read less