Everyone in this community wants children to be safe. We want drivers to slow down near schools, crosswalks, parks, neighborhoods, and sidewalks. But ALPR cameras are not doing what we were told they would do.

A camera does not slow a speeding car in real time.

These cameras may issue tickets after the fact, but they do not stop a dangerous driver before a child steps into the street. They do not create safer crosswalks. They do not install stop signs, speed bumps, rumble strips, or raised crossings. They do not put crossing guards or in-person officers near schools when children actually need protection.

People slow down for the camera zone, then speed right back up afterward. That does not make our streets safer. It simply moves the danger a few feet down the road.

These cameras also do nothing about another real safety concern residents see every day: e-bikes traveling far above the speed limit in streets and on sidewalks. Many are not registered vehicles and do not have license plates for a camera to read. So while City Hall claims this is about safety, the cameras cannot even address some of the most visible speeding risks in our neighborhoods.

If the city were serious about protecting children and slowing traffic, it would invest in real traffic-calming measures: raised crosswalks, speed humps, rumble strips, better signage, stop signs, crossing guards, safer street design, and in-person officers during peak school hours. These solutions slow vehicles in real time. They protect people in real time. And many of them cost less than the contracts signed with Flock or its partnering companies.

Instead, residents are being subjected to a system that tracks vehicles, collects data, issues tickets, and creates the appearance of safety without delivering safety when it matters most.

To many of us, this feels less like a public safety program and more like a revenue scheme.

Even more troubling, these cameras treat ordinary residents like suspects. They can record when people leave home, when they return, where their vehicles have been seen, and how often. No warrant. No individualized suspicion. Just constant surveillance of people going about their daily lives.

That is not community safety. That is warrantless surveillance.

This was also not done with meaningful community consent. Residents were not truly brought into the conversation before these cameras were installed. We were told this was happening, rather than asked whether this is the kind of town we want to live in.

We do not want to be watched into submission. We want safer streets.

We are calling on City Hall to:

• Remove the ALPR cameras.

• End the use of warrantless vehicle surveillance in our community.

• Redirect the money toward real traffic-calming measures that slow vehicles in real time.

• Hold a broader public community process before approving any future surveillance technology.

• Real safety prevents harm. It does not simply document it afterward.

• Real safety does not treat every resident like they are guilty until proven innocent.

• Take the cameras down. Put the money into traffic calming. Protect people in real time.