Ross Teeple says license plate readers are a great tool, he ended Pinal County's Flock contract, and he wants statutory boundaries on automated surveillance
Ross TeepleElected sheriff of Pinal County, Arizona
Tells a Senate Judiciary subcommittee that license plate readers limited to reading plates are a great tool, that he was among the first law-enforcement leaders to end a Flock contract, and that camera networks powered by artificial intelligence are capable of violating Fourth Amendment rights. Asks for clear statutory boundaries on automated surveillance.
“Let me be entirely clear: Automatic License Plate Readers, or ALPRs, are a great tool. Technology that is strictly limited to reading license plates helps us solve crimes, catch dangerous criminals, and find missing people. ... The Committee reached out to me because I was one of the first Law Enforcement leaders in the country to end our contract with Flock. ... I believe the latest camera networks, powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning, are capable of violating our citizens' Fourth Amendment rights. ... We must establish clear, statutory boundaries for automated surveillance.”
Original text
Where this statement fits
Should Flock-style license-plate surveillance networks exist?
Networked automated license-plate readers record passing vehicles and let agencies search or share travel records across locations. Candidates and officials disagree over whether to prohibit these networks, keep them with legal limits, or defend their use for investigations. This tracker records attributable positions on that choice, including proposals that would affect only public funding or data access.
Source and context
Original text
About this source
Prepared testimony of the sheriff of Pinal County, Arizona, who writes that automatic license plate readers limited to reading plates are 'a great tool,' that his office ended its Flock contract, and that he believes the latest AI-powered camera networks are capable of violating Fourth Amendment rights. He asks for 'clear, statutory boundaries for automated surveillance.'
Before the quotation
The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism held its hearing on Flock's nationwide network on September 23, 2026, listed for 2:30 p.m. Teeple's written testimony is dated the same day.
After the quotation
Teeple adds that his decision to end the contract "was controversial but has also been extremely popular across the political spectrum".
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The reference point is whether networked license-plate reader systems such as Flock should exist and be used. Teeple tells the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism that readers limited to reading plates are "a great tool", that he was among the first law-enforcement leaders to "end our contract with Flock", and that AI-powered camera networks are capable of violating Fourth Amendment rights, and he asks for "clear, statutory boundaries" on automated surveillance. He drops this vendor and calls for limits without rejecting license-plate readers as a whole, so we labeled it Mixed or conditional and placed it at Ban on the remedy ladder, since the contract ends with no replacement named. The closest competing label is Condemned. It loses because he endorses plate-only readers and asks for statutory boundaries rather than an end to the systems.
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Rick Beard says Flock cameras should be voter approved or taken down
“I would rather have the state spend money on fixing the damn potholes instead of spending money to watch us drive over them. Flock cameras need to be voter approved or taken down.”Read statement
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The Dispute Index. "Ross Teeple says license plate readers are a great tool, he ended Pinal County's Flock contract, and he wants statutory boundaries on automated surveillance". First published: 2026-10-09. Last updated: 2026-10-09. https://disputeindex.com/events/5236-tells-a-senate-judiciary-subcommittee-that-license-plate