Direct election

A Tempe, Arizona council member is drafting an ordinance to permanently bar the city from using automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras, following its decision in August to end a contract with Flock Safety over privacy and misuse concerns. Councilmember Bobby Nichols says the measure would formalize that choice in city code, prohibiting ALPR use for law enforcement, requiring destruction of existing data, and allowing discipline, including termination, for employees who violate the rules. Exceptions would permit use of ALPR data from other agencies in cases like missing-persons searches or under search warrants, and non-law-enforcement uses such as managing city parking facilities.

The proposal has drawn pushback from residents like retired detective Bill Richardson, who argues the cameras help address Tempe's crime rate and that a full ban is an overreaction rather than a push for stronger safeguards. Tempe joins nearly a dozen Arizona jurisdictions that have ended, suspended, or declined to renew ALPR contracts. Nichols plans to introduce the ordinance at the council's September 24 meeting, with a possible vote in October.