Two of Wickenburg’s Six Motorola ALPR Surveillance Cameras (Image Courtesy Damsel)
Lately, there have been a flurry of news articles, social media posts and You-Tube posts regarding “Flock Cameras.” The issue with most outlets is whether or not these Automated License Plate Readers (ALPR) violate the 4th Amendment to the Constitution Right to no unreasonable searches and seizures without probable cause.
I did a little research with GROK and found that there are three places here in town with Motorola ALPR cameras monitoring traffic in both directions. See the installation in the (clickable) image above for one of the locations. Two of the three locations monitor traffic along the main drag, Wickenburg Way ((Route 60). The third location monitors traffic on the southside of the main drag along Vulture Mine Road which runs north and south. According to Deflocktheusa.com”
Three ALPRs are in Wickenburg as of mid-to-late October 2026:
- East Wickenburg Way — 1 reader
- West Wickenburg Way — 1 reader
- Smoketree Street — 1 reader
These are tagged as Motorola Solutions (Vigilant LPR cameras) devices under the Wickenburg Police Department. The first was reported in December 2025 and the most recent in July 2026. No Flock Safety cameras appear in the Wickenburg-specific reporting.
Note that each “1 reader” consists of two cameras.
Both the Motorola and Flock devices communicate records to a database that show the license plate number, the make and model of the vehicles and several other attributes. They do this day or night thanks to their built in IR illuminators.
So, is this a case of Big Brother watching us, or is it just a good thing that law enforcement uses to catch wrong doers? We take no position either way.
However, there have been multiple cases of abuse by some with access to the database.
There have been dozens of documented cases of police officers misusing Flock Safety and other ALPR systems to track current or former romantic partners, exes, and people connected to them. A Washington Post investigation found at least 50 such incidents nationwide; other tallies (Institute for Justice, 404 Media) put the number in a similar range, with many involving Flock specifically.
I guess that we will wait and see what happens with some of the court cases and some of the vandalism destroying, disabling or taking the cameras down. Meanwhile, drive safely.