Recent statements by Greg Abbott and Ron DeSantis reveal a bipartisan backlash against warrantless surveillance.
Last month, Texas Governor Greg Abbott halted state financing for automated license plate readers (ALPRs), acknowledging concerns about the warrantless monitoring enabled by these AI-powered cameras. He acted the day after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a fellow Republican, described ALPRs as being “out of control.”
Both leaders pointed to recent reports about law enforcement officers allegedly misusing ALPR data for private purposes, a trend that appears to be shifting public opinion on the technology. These incidents underscore the risks of granting officers nationwide easy access to this information, which can reveal travel patterns, identify nearby vehicles, and even forecast an individual’s plans, all without judicial oversight or robust internal checks.
Abbott cited a Lufkin, Texas, officer charged with using ALPR information to stalk an ex-girlfriend, her relatives, and her acquaintances more than 10,000 times. DeSantis referenced comparable cases in Florida, where deputies in Sarasota and Haines City had recently been arrested for improper use of ALPR data.
“Whenever I see, like, a police officer using this to track, like, an ex-girlfriend,” DeSantis said, “I’m like, you know, what the hell’s going on?” Local officials are beginning to ask the same question.
As of Tuesday, the Institute for Justice counted 181 local governments that have canceled or declined to renew ALPR contracts since the start of 2025. In Texas alone, The Dallas Express reports, at least 23 jurisdictions have terminated contracts, paused service, or reduced the scope of their ALPR networks.
Approximately 7,000 police departments have installed those networks, which encompass around 140,000 cameras, often without adequately weighing privacy implications or the potential for abuse. Yet some are now reconsidering, reflecting growing public skepticism about unfettered ALPR use.
In a YouGov poll conducted last month, 46 percent of respondents opposed police use of ALPRs, including 31 percent who were “strongly” opposed, while 38 percent favored the practice. A year earlier, YouGov found that 45 percent of Americans supported ALPRs, with 33 percent opposed, including 20 percent who were “strongly” opposed.
That reversal coincides with a rise in documented ALPR abuses. The Institute for Justice has identified “well over 100” such incidents, noting that this may merely be the tip of the iceberg given lax oversight and broad data sharing.
Officers are supposed to use that information, accessible on computers or mobile devices, solely for legitimate law enforcement purposes. But as a Wichita police supervisor admitted in 2024, enforcing that rule for every search is “not even possible.”
Compounding the challenge, each agency typically shares ALPR data with many others. As The Wichita Eagle noted in 2022, local police officials have “no control over how those outside agencies use it and no way to flag unlawful searches.”
In Norfolk, Virginia, a local radio station reported last April that officers often provide “incomplete and imprecise reasons” for ALPR searches, citing terms such as “suspect,” “suspicious,” “investigation,” or “inv.” Such vague labels hardly align with state law demanding a “specific purpose,” including “the offense type,” to furnish enough information to determine whether a search is legitimate.
“The police cannot police themselves,” says Institute for Justice attorney Robert Frommer. His organization contends that access to ALPR data should generally require a warrant—a policy it aims to advance by challenging ALPR networks on Fourth Amendment grounds and urging states to enact protective legislation.
The congressional response to ALPRs, including several bills and an investigation announced last month by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), has been led predominantly by conservative Republicans, illustrating that the backlash extends beyond libertarian or left-leaning critics. Whether it will yield effective constraints remains to be seen.
ABLRs are “easily containable,” Abbott asserts, perhaps a touch optimistically. “If they are used at all, they must be employed responsibly.”
© Copyright 2026 by Creators Syndicate Inc.
