Liberty is a guiding principle for the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Protecting the pursuit of liberty and other constitutional freedoms is a critical mission for our nation’s peace officers. But many outside the ranks assert confidence of the police in this role has fallen. Militarization, lack of transparency, and over-criminalization often surface as contributing to distrust.
License plate readers can aid police — but Texas needs guardrails
Earlier this summer, two Texas law enforcement agencies announced investigations involving the alleged misuse of Flock Safety’s automated license plate reader (ALPR) technology. In Fort Bend County, a sheriff’s lieutenant admitted to conducting repeated searches unrelated to official law enforcement duties nearly 200 times. Shortly thereafter, Baytown Police opened internal affairs and criminal investigations into allegations that an...