(Liam Hibbert, The Center Square) Gubernatorial candidates in Nevada have stressed the need to regulate artificial intelligence-powered automated license plate readers.
Their comments came late this week after a Nevada legislative committee voted unanimously at a recent meeting to draft a bill with legal guidelines for ALPRs, which include Flock cameras. There’s a national debate over the technology’s security value versus privacy concerns.
Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo, a Republican, and Attorney General Aaron Ford, a Democrat running against Lombardo in the Nov. 3 gubernatorial election, have both expressed support for the regulation of ALPRs, although to varying degrees.
“There are no standards in place right now, so what this would do is establish those standards for our agencies to follow,” said Brad Wilkinson, counsel for the Joint Interim Standing Committee on the Judiciary, at an Aug. 25 meeting.
That meeting is when the committee unanimously passed an order to draft a legal framework around the use of ALPRs in Nevada. The technology, which automatically takes pictures of all license plates that pass the cameras’ view, can be used to track suspects in crime investigation.
The move to regulate ALPRs comes ahead of Nevada’s legislative session, which will start in February 2027.
Committee members acknowledged the variety of opinions on the technology’s use across the state, but agreed some form of regulation should exist for ALPRs. Currently there is no legislation specifically related to ALPRs in Nevada, according to Wilkinson.
“It seemed appropriate to at least have a vehicle to hash out those details, and if we’re able to come to some kind of conclusion about how we should be regulating the use of these cameras, then we can do that with this particular bill,” state Sen. Melanie Scheible, D-Clark County, said at the meeting. Clark County is Nevada’s most populous county and is home to Las Vegas.
Plans for Nevada’s ALPR bill come as a national discussion on the topic has exploded in recent months. One major ALPR company, Flock Safety, has previously reported that its products are being used by law enforcement agencies across thousands of counties and nearly every U.S. state. More recently, over 100 cities have reportedly deactivated cameras or canceled contracts with the company after public backlash, including calls to vandalize the cameras, according to anti-ALPR advocacy group DeFlock.
Flock Safety and supporters of the technology have highlighted its use in flagging suspects in time-sensitive criminal cases. The company has frequently published stories of successful uses of its ALPRs for solving crimes on its website.
“Flock’s technology is an important public safety tool for law enforcement agencies across America, helping officers solve serious crimes and find missing people,” Flock Safety spokesperson Ashley Muranakatoolsie told The Center Square in an email. “We support thoughtful, bipartisan legislation that puts strong privacy, transparency, and accountability guardrails in place while preserving law enforcement’s ability to use technology responsibly to keep people safe.”
But opponents have pointed to a string of abuses of ALPRs by police across the country, with many public cases of officers using the cameras to track or stalk former personal relationships.
Back in Nevada, this year’s candidates for governor have weighed in on the issue.
Lombardo’s office said he supported the use of ALPR and other AI-powered camera technology by Nevada law enforcement, but said they needed regulations.
“These tools can strengthen public safety, but they must be accompanied by strong safeguards to protect the privacy and constitutional rights of citizens,” Lombardo’s spokesperson Drew Galang told The Center Square in an email.
Ford said he did not support the state’s current use of the technology.
“Flock cameras raise serious concerns about Nevadans’ right to privacy,” the attorney general said in an email to The Center Square. “Nevada needs stringent rules to protect against the abuse of Flock cameras, and as Governor I will work with lawmakers to pass into law these essential guardrails. Until Nevadans have these protections, I do not support the use of Flock cameras.”
