Arizona voters turn against Flock surveillance cameras despite seeing police benefits

A statewide poll in Arizona indicates growing resistance to the proliferation of Flock’s automated license-plate-reading cameras, with 63% of respondents opposing their use by local police. Despite this, 51% still view the technology as a useful tool for law-enforcement operations. The same survey shows that 82% of voters worry the cameras could be misused and equally support the idea of independent audits of surveillance providers.

Partisan differences are evident: 73% of Democratic voters oppose the cameras compared with 54% of Republicans, and Democrats are more likely to reject sharing the data with ICE. The backlash follows revelations that Customs and Border Protection has accessed at least 1,600 Flock readers across 22 states and that companies like SignalTrace can augment the devices to track additional electronic signals from vehicles. The data underscores a tension between perceived security benefits and privacy concerns among Arizona residents.