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Public and advocates warn against expanding ALPRs, ShotSpotter and other surveillance in MPD budget
Summary
Multiple public witnesses and advocacy organizations told the committee that MPD's surveillance spending (ALPRs/Flock, ShotSpotter/Sound Thinking, Pathfinder/Cellebrite) raises privacy, equity, and efficacy concerns and urged reallocating surveillance dollars to social programs.
Across the hearing several witnesses called attention to MPD's multi‑million dollar investments in surveillance technology and urged the committee to halt expansions and redirect funds. Testimony from community groups and privacy advocates said surveillance tools often produce false alerts, disproportionate deployment in majority-Black neighborhoods, and data-sharing with federal agencies.
Christine Corey and other witnesses documented historical spending, stating "between 2016 and 2024, MPD spent $6,600,000 to Sound Thinking Inc., formerly ShotSpotter Inc.," and called examples from other cities where the technology was dropped after poor performance. Joey Ferguson and others raised concerns about Flock Safety's nationwide searchable database and potential access by federal agencies: "Flock logs this data in a searchable nationwide database that any flock user can access, including federal agents."
Agency leaders and union representatives defended certain technology as a force multiplier for investigations and recovery of stolen vehicles, while acknowledging community concerns about transparency. Committee members asked for clearer cost-benefit analyses, equity impact assessments, and firmer MOUs governing third-party data access.
