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Buckeye police defend license-plate reader program, stress privacy safeguards
Summary
Chief Bob Zanage and Deputy Chief Chuck Dezado told council the department uses license-plate readers, traffic cameras, body cameras and drones to support investigations, emphasized a 30-day retention policy for routine footage, said data is shared only with law enforcement and stated there is no facial-recognition use.
At the Feb. 17, 2026 City of Buckeye council workshop, Police Chief Bob Zanage and Deputy Chief Chuck Dezado presented the department's approach to public-safety technology, arguing the tools aid investigations while contending safeguards protect privacy.
Zanage described early LPR deployment and the rationale: "it's a picket fence around the city to control or know who's coming into our city as far as criminals," he said, relating the cameras' role in reducing late-night auto burglaries five years ago. He said Buckeye deployed roughly 35 license-plate reader cameras initially and now uses traffic cameras, city cameras, body-worn cameras and…
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