A recent audit of the Austin Police Department’s License Plate Reader (LPR) program found that while the department largely complied with policies during the yearlong pilot, internal audit procedures and vendor contracts left room for improvement and potential privacy risks. The findings were presented to the City Council’s Audit and Finance Committee this week, as members consider whether to continue or modify the surveillance technology initiative.
According to the City Auditor’s Office, which reviewed the program’s first nine months of data from March to December 2024, APD logged approximately 75 million license plate scans. The system generated more than 13,000 matches for potential violations, resulting in 165 arrests and approximately 134 prosecutions, though auditors noted delays in the justice process make the prosecution figure an estimate.
A significant concern raised in the audit involved the city’s contract with the readers’ vendor, Flock Safety. The auditors flagged contract language that gives Flock a “non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual” right to use and share anonymized data for development and law enforcement purposes…