Cities about the nation are ditching Flock’s automatic licence dish audience (ALPR) cameras, and replacing them alongside equal cameras from law implementation contracting elephantine Axon. That move in ample part comes in reply to 404 Media’s safety of how local cops performed lookups in Flock for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and how a cop in Texas searched Flock cameras nationwide to look for a female who self-administered an abortion.
That brings up questions: what are cities and law implementation agencies using Axon ALPRs for? And who are they in rotate sharing that data with? 404 Media has started to discover out, but needs the assistance of local residents and community members to fig out what is happening throughout the country.
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Have you obtained Axon ALPR action logs? We think this data is crucial so we can study how constabulary are using Axon's surveillance cameras. Please awareness liberated to dispatch the records to us! You can email [email protected].
Over the final few weeks, 404 Media has submitted requests alongside assorted cities and constabulary departments for Axon “activity reports” and “sharing reports.” These display in granular item whenever a constabulary authoritative searched Axon’s ALPRs, the name of the officer, their sign number, the licence dish they reached, and, most importantly, the stated logic why. These action reports are basically Axon’s type of Flock’s “network audits,” which has been the basis of much of 404 Media’s Flock reporting, and local and national media outlets’ about the country. You can see an example of one here:
So far, 404 Media has obtained action reports from the Benton County Sheriff's Office, WA; Falmouth Police Department, ME; Johns Creek Police Department, GA; Ocean Shores Police Department, WA; Pleasanton Police Department, TX; and Red Wing Police Department, MN.
But we need your help. Has your local constabulary division or city switched to Axon ALPR cameras? Were they already using Axon? And do you desire to cognize what they’re using those cameras for?
We’re asking curious readers to document the below community records request. You can merely copy this language, tweak it a small if necessary to use to your state, afterward document the petition alongside the applicable agency. You can do this by finding their applicable community records petition email address, or by filing it through Muckrock. This is the phase we use for sending and organizing our records requests.
The Internal ALPR Activity study is the one shown above. The Network ALPR Activity study shows what another agencies the constabulary division or city shares their data with. The ALPR Data Sharing study provides a former of whenever another agencies were invited, or removed, to obtain the data. And the ALPR Hostlist Management Audit study particulars changes made to alerts the agency may receive.
If you document a petition and get data back, delight awareness liberated to email it to us at [email protected]. We’ve seen alongside the nationwide conversation concerning Flock that local residents can do a lot to disclose how surveillance innovation is being used in their own communities. We anticipation we can discover out a bit additional concerning how agencies are using Axon’s cameras too.
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the [YOUR STATE’S PUBLIC RECORDS LAW], I hereby petition the following records:
1. Internal ALPR Activity study in Axon.
The study should contain data logged from the duration of January 1, 2025, to the date this petition is processed. Per Axon's documentation, the Internal ALPR Activity study is accessible inside the LPR > ALPR Search > LPR Audit menu. You can discover instructions to find this here: https://www.axon.com/help/fusus/software/fusus/alpr/alpr-audit.htm
2. Network ALPR Activity study in Axon.
The study should contain data logged from the duration of January 1, 2025, to the date this petition is processed. Per Axon's documentation, the Network ALPR Activity study is accessible inside the LPR > ALPR Search > LPR Audit menu. You can discover instructions to find this here: https://www.axon.com/help/fusus/software/fusus/alpr/alpr-audit.htm
3. ALPR Data Sharing study in Axon.
The study should contain data logged from the duration of January 1, 2025, to the date this petition is processed. Per Axon's documentation, the ALPR Data Sharing study is accessible inside the LPR > ALPR Search > LPR Audit menu. You can discover instructions to find this here: https://www.axon.com/help/fusus/software/fusus/alpr/alpr-audit.htm
4. ALPR Hotlist Management Audit study in Axon.
The study should contain data logged from the duration of January 1, 2025, to the date this petition is processed. Per Axon's documentation, the ALPR Hotlist Management Audit study is accessible inside the LPR > ALPR Search > LPR Audit menu. You can discover instructions to find this here: https://www.axon.com/help/fusus/software/fusus/alpr/alpr-audit.htm
The requested documents volition be made accessible to the broad public, and this petition is not being made for business purposes.
In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would communicate me of the total charges ongoing of fulfilling my request. I would favor the petition filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if accessible or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you ongoing for your anticipated collaboration in this matter. I appearance onward to receiving your reply inside the period duration that the statute requires.
Sincerely,
[YOUR NAME]
About the author
Joseph is an award-winning investigative newsman focused on generating impact. His activity has triggered hundreds of millions of dollars value of fines, close downward tech companies, and much more.
