A growing number of U.S. cities are deploying automated license plate readers (ALPRs) from Axon as scrutiny of rival surveillance company Flock Safety continues to mount.
Recent city council records and police department announcements show municipalities either replacing Flock systems with Axon technology or expanding existing relationships with the Scottsdale, Arizona, company—which is already a major supplier of Tasers, body cameras and digital evidence management systems to law enforcement agencies across the country.
The trend was highlighted in an August report by 404 Media, which found that some cities moving away from Flock were not abandoning ALPR cameras altogether, but instead turning to Axon as an alternative provider. Meanwhile, privacy advocates continue to raise concerns about the rapid expansion of license plate reader technology, arguing that the systems can create vast databases tracking the movements of millions of drivers…