Recently, news broke that the police had entered into a two-year contract with a private surveillance company called Flock Safety to install 57 car tracking cameras—without informing the Police Commission or requesting any feedback from the community. Surveillance doesn’t make us safe, and Flock’s ALPRs will lead to more criminalization of Black, brown, and poor people. Sign to tell Eugene City Council that Flock’s dangerous police tech has no place in our city!

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 Installing Flock’s ALPRs will bring dangerous surveillance to Eugene. Flock’s cameras take detailed photos of entire vehicles, not just their license plates, and they even capture bicycles. Then, their software analyzes plate numbers, make and model, visitation patterns and more—allowing police to track, monitor, and record the movement of anyone who uses city streets. This detailed information is kept and stored for 30 days, or longer if the police decide you’re suspicious.

 Flock says their devices make us more safe, but there’s no evidence that ALPRs actually reduce crime. In fact, ALPR cameras misidentify plates up to 10% of the time and increase violent encounters between police and civilians. There have been numerous incidents when the technology has misread license plates, leading police to needlessly pull people over and draw weapons on drivers and their families. These dangers will be heightened for people of color, poor people, and undocumented people, who are already over-policed and over-surveilled.

 Flock is especially dangerous because their ALPR network is nationwide, includes civilian cameras, and is not subject to any oversight. Flock’s is truly a dystopian vision in which any neighborhood camera can be weaponized to track people, wherever they go. License plate readers are already ICE's favorite tool to identify and deport undocumented people. Now that abortion and gender-affirming care are criminalized in many states, Flock's ALPRs will be used to track, monitor, and criminalize people seeking healthcare.

 A contract with Flock is not in Eugene’s interest. It funnels taxpayer money to a nauseating company peddling unproven technology, instead of investing in things that would actually improve our communities. Sign now to demand Eugene City Council cancel the Flock contract and step up for our civil liberties.

Visit eyesoffeugene.org for more information.