Often unnoticed across the metro, on utility poles, street corners and patrol cars, is a growing network of cameras capturing license plates and vehicle locations in real time.
Why it matters: Police say automated license plate readers help them find missing people and identify suspects, but the ACLU of Iowa warns the expanding surveillance raises serious privacy concerns, especially because transparency varies widely across police departments.
How it works: Automated license plate readers (ALPRs) automatically scan and store license plate data, regardless of whether a vehicle is flagged by law enforcement…