We, the undersigned citizens, respectfully urge our local elected officials to suspend the installation and expansion of Flock Safety automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras and conduct a full public review of their necessity, effectiveness, and impact on the constitutional rights of our community.

This petition is not an attack on law enforcement. Crime should be investigated, victims deserve justice, and police officers deserve the tools necessary to protect our communities. However, the pursuit of public safety must never come at the expense of the constitutional freedoms that define our nation. Our rights should not be surrendered in exchange for the promise of greater security.

The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution protects citizens against unreasonable searches and seizures. While technology continues to evolve, the principles behind the Constitution do not. Government should not monitor or catalog the movements of innocent people who are not suspected of committing a crime.

Automated license plate reader systems fundamentally change the relationship between citizens and government. Instead of focusing investigations on individuals based upon reasonable suspicion or probable cause, these systems collect and store information on thousands of law-abiding people simply because they traveled on a public roadway. Over time, this information can reveal where people work, worship, seek medical care, attend political events, visit family members, or simply go about their daily lives. These are deeply personal aspects of life that deserve protection in a free society.

Technology should never become a substitute for professional policing. If our communities are facing increased crime or investigative challenges, the answer is to invest in better-trained officers, stronger investigative skills, improved staffing, and community policing—not the routine surveillance of every citizen who drives through town.

Good policing has never depended on watching everyone. It has depended on well-trained officers who build relationships within their communities, follow evidence, respect constitutional limits, and use sound judgment. Investing in people strengthens both public safety and public trust. Investing in mass surveillance risks weakening both.

History has repeatedly demonstrated that government powers granted for one purpose often expand beyond their original intent. Surveillance technologies introduced for serious crimes frequently become tools for more routine investigations. Databases grow. Information is shared. Policies change. What begins as an exception can slowly become the norm. Once privacy is surrendered, it is rarely restored without considerable effort.

Benjamin Franklin is often credited with saying, "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." Whether every modern circumstance is identical to Franklin's time is open to debate, but the warning remains relevant: freedom should not be compromised simply because technology makes surveillance easier.

We respectfully request that our elected officials:

Suspend any additional installation of Flock Safety cameras until public hearings are conducted.
Complete an independent legal and constitutional review of the program.
Publish clear policies regarding data collection, retention, access, and sharing.
Require strong judicial oversight before historical location data is accessed except where existing law provides for emergencies.
Limit data retention to the shortest practical period unless directly tied to an active criminal investigation.
Publish annual transparency reports detailing how often the system is used, what crimes it assists in solving, how information is shared, and whether any misuse has occurred.
Prohibit the use of automated license plate reader systems for generalized surveillance of law-abiding citizens or for monitoring constitutionally protected activities such as religious services, political gatherings, or peaceful demonstrations.
Our community should never be forced to choose between safety and freedom. We can support effective law enforcement while insisting that constitutional rights remain the foundation upon which public safety is built. Security achieved by expanding government surveillance at the expense of individual liberty is a dangerous trade that future generations may find difficult to reverse.

We ask our elected officials to reject the normalization of mass surveillance, reaffirm their commitment to the Constitution, and invest in the people who protect our communities rather than technologies that monitor them.

By signing below, we respectfully call upon our local government to halt the expansion of Flock Safety cameras and pursue public safety in a manner that protects both our communities and the constitutional liberties of every citizen.