> Experts say it’s not that simple, and that establishing a causal relationship between any given variable [i.e., installing ALPRs] and fluctuating crime rates

> Experts say it’s not that simple, and that establishing a causal relationship between any given variable [i.e., installing ALPRs] and fluctuating crime rates is no easy task No kidding. I'd rather cops didn't get to use technical or automated surveillance tools without a warrant, and certainly not as an anti-crime dragnet shopping spree, but here we are. ALPRs and red-light cameras may have mixed impact, but so does policing in general. > Another possibility is that Flock’s license plate readers helped police apprehend a relatively small group of criminals who were responsible for the bulk of the crime in the area. Splitting hairs between preventing opportunistic and organized crime > two men [...] were pulled over and handcuffed as police pointed guns at them, after an automatic license-plate reader incorrectly identified their rental car as stolen. The ALPR correctly scanned the plate, but the hot sheet was out of date. This also happens without ALPRs due to bad policework.