DENVER — Dozens of concerned citizens and advocates gathered in front of the Denver City and County Building on Monday to demand that Mayor Mike Johnston turn off the city’s automated license plate readers.
Denver 7 has been following the controversy over license plate readers in Denver for the past few months.
The cameras take thousands of pictures every day of cars traveling through intersections across the city. The Denver Police Department says the cameras have been effective in helping them fight crime, but citizen groups say it’s an invasion of privacy and worry the data could be used to help federal immigration authorities.
- Denver7 Investigates took an in-depth look at license plate readers and the surrounding controversy in the story below
Denver7 Investigates
License plate reader remains hot-button issue in Denver | Denver7 Investigates
“These cameras become pipelines into the deportation machine,” said Gladis Ibarra, the executive director of the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition. “One camera scan can lead to a traffic stop. That traffic stop can lead to ICE custody, family separation, deportation, and detention.”
Beyond that, some people like Dr. Robert Davis, the head of the citizen-led Denver Task Force to Reimagine Policing and Public Safety, are concerned about the privacy of citizens.
“No government should be surveilling its people, should be monitoring its people, and should be seeking to control its people,” Davis said. “So everyone should be alarmed.”
After hearing from concerned citizens in May, the Denver City Council decided not to renew a contract with the Flock Group, the company that supplied the licensed plate readers to the city. However, the city has kept the cameras in place while it weighs its next steps.
- Below is a map of the automated license plate readers (ALPRs) in Denver, provided by the Denver Police Department
The city has 111 automated license plate readers at 70 different locations.
The Denver Police Department says the cameras have played a significant role in helping fight crime, including decreasing auto thefts. Police officials credit the devices for helping investigators recover 180 stolen cars and at least 29 firearms.
Some citizen groups, however, don’t trust the data and are demanding more transparency, including a full audit of searches. They’re also calling on city leaders to develop a comprehensive plan to protect people’s privacy.
“We're asking that the city council and the mayor come together and develop a comprehensive plan in conjunction with community,” said Davis. “That they develop a comprehensive plan around how citizens and people in Denver will be surveilled, how that information will be stored, who it will and will not be shared with, so that we actually have a legally binding policy on how our communities are surveilled.”
Johnston’s office said it understands concerns from community and council members but believes the license plate readers have benefited the city.
“Flock has proven extremely effective in everything from catching murderers to dramatically reducing the number of cars stolen in Denver. Losing it would be a significant blow to law enforcement, as well as a disservice to victims and their families,” the mayor’s office said in a statement. “We understand – and in many cases agree with – the community and Council’s concerns related to the Trump Administration and its illegal actions around immigration enforcement. If we believe a partner agency is using this information in bad faith or breaking the law, we can, and will, immediately bar them from accessing our data and refer them to the state Attorney General’s office. We will continue working with City Council and the public to ensure concerns are being addressed.”
