Cities around the country are ditching Flock’s automatic license plate reader (ALPR) cameras, and replacing them with equivalent cameras from law enforcement contracting giant Axon.
asserted
Cities → ditch → Axon
That move in large part comes in response to 404 Media’s coverage of how local cops performed lookups in Flock for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and how a cop in Texas searched Flock cameras nationwide to look for a woman who self-administered an abortion.
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who → come → abortion
That brings up questions: what are cities and
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cities → bring → what
And who are they in turn sharing that data with?
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they → share → data
404 Media has started to find out, but needs the help of local residents and community members to figure out what is happening across the country.
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what → start → country
Over the last few weeks, 404 Media has filed requests with various cities and police departments for Axon “activity reports” and “sharing reports.”
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Media → file → reports
These show in granular detail when a police officer searched Axon’s ALPRs, the name of the officer, their badge number, the license plate they reached, and, most importantly, the stated reason why.
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they → show → officer
You can see an example of one here:
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You → see → one
So far, 404 Media has obtained activity reports from the Benton County Sheriff's Office, WA; Falmouth Police Department, ME; Johns Creek Police Department, GA; Ocean Shores Police Department, WA; Pleasanton Police Department, TX; and Red Wing Police Department, MN.
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Media → obtain → Office
But we need your help.
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we → need → help
Has your local police department or city switched to Axon ALPR cameras?
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department → switch → cameras
Were they already using Axon?
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they → use → Axon
And do you want to know what they’re using those cameras for?
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they → want → cameras
We’re asking interested readers to file the below public records request.
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We → ask → request
You can simply copy this language, tweak it a little if necessary to apply to your state, then file the request with the relevant agency.
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You → copy → agency
You can do this by finding their relevant public records request email address, or by filing it through Muckrock.
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You → do → Muckrock
This is the platform we use for sending and organizing our records requests.
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we → use → requests
The Internal ALPR Activity report is the one shown above.
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report → show → ?
The Network ALPR Activity report shows what other agencies the police department or city shares their data with.
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department → show → data
The ALPR Data Sharing report provides a history of when other agencies were invited, or removed, to receive the data.
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agencies → provide → data
And the ALPR Hostlist Management Audit report details changes made to alerts the agency may receive.
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agency → detail → alerts
If you file a request and get data back, please feel free to email it to us at joseph@404media.co.
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you → file → joseph@404media.co
We’ve seen with the nationwide conversation about Flock that local residents can do a lot to reveal how surveillance technology is being used in their own communities.
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technology → see → communities
We hope we can find out a bit more about how agencies are using Axon’s cameras too.
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agencies → hope → cameras
To Whom It May Concern:
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It → concern → Whom
Pursuant to the [YOUR STATE’S PUBLIC RECORDS LAW], I hereby request the following records:
1. Internal ALPR Activity report in Axon.
The report should include data logged from the period of January 1, 2025, to the date this request is processed.
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request → request → date
You can find instructions to locate this here: https://www.axon.com/help/fusus/software/fusus/alpr/alpr-audit.htm
2.
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You → find → https://www.axon.com/help/fusus/software/fusus/alpr/alpr-audit.htm
The report should include data logged from the period of January 1, 2025, to the date this request is processed.
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request → include → date
You can find instructions to locate this here: https://www.axon.com/help/fusus/software/fusus/alpr/alpr-audit.htm
3.
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You → find → https://www.axon.com/help/fusus/software/fusus/alpr/alpr-audit.htm
The report should include data logged from the period of January 1, 2025, to the date this request is processed.
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request → include → date
You can find instructions to locate this here: https://www.axon.com/help/fusus/software/fusus/alpr/alpr-audit.htm
4.
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You → find → https://www.axon.com/help/fusus/software/fusus/alpr/alpr-audit.htm
The report should include data logged from the period of January 1, 2025, to the date this request is processed.
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request → include → date
You can find instructions to locate this here: https://www.axon.com/help/fusus/software/fusus/alpr/alpr-audit.htm
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.
In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request.
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you → find → request
I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
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request → prefer → attachment
I look forward to receiving your response within the time period that the statute requires.
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statute → look → that
The Aporia
