Tempe council debates first-in-Arizona ALPR ban as police chief voices opposition

First reported: September 25, 2026 · 4 sources

Tempe's city council held a first reading Thursday on an ordinance proposed by Councilmember Bobby Nichols that would bar the city and its police from buying or using automated license plate reader technology, which would make Tempe the first Arizona city to enact such a ban. Revised language would restrict police access to outside ALPR data to court processes such as warrants, judicial orders or subpoenas, provided the city did not request or arrange the original search. Councilmembers Doreen Garlid and Nikki Amberg raised concerns about the tightened terms and the pace of the process, and Police Chief Ken McCoy said the department cannot support the ordinance as written. A final vote is scheduled for Oct. 15.

Why this matters

A municipal ban would set a state precedent and test how far local governments can go in limiting both their own ALPR use and access to data collected by others, while the debate over unavailable case-closure statistics highlights recurring questions about how surveillance effectiveness is measured.

Key facts

The ordinance would prohibit city and law enforcement purchase or use of ALPR, with exceptions including parking enforcement; private use by businesses or HOAs and Arizona State University would not be covered.
Tempe canceled its Flock Safety contract last month and says it covered cameras citywide because the company had not responded to a removal request.
Chief McCoy said unsolved crimes have resulted since decommissioning, citing a hit-and-run that hospitalized a 16-year-old girl near intersections with deactivated cameras.
Councilmember Brooke St. George criticized the absence of case-closure data tied to ALPR; McCoy said the department does not track cases that way.
Nichols asked about a 2025 Flock query he said referenced a No Kings protest; McCoy said the search involved a vehicle driving recklessly and was unrelated to protesters.
Public information sessions were set for Oct. 1, with a final council vote scheduled Oct. 15.

Sources

This summary was written from the published reporting below and links to it; BlockFlockNow does not reproduce article text.

Tempe councilmembers, police chief at odds over proposed ALPR ban (ABC15 Arizona, September 25, 2026)
Tempe may ban ALPR cameras (yourvalley.net, September 27, 2026)
Tempe weighs first-of-its-kind ALPR camera ban (Axios, September 25, 2026)
Tempe holds first hearing for license-plate reader camera ban (yourvalley.net, September 25, 2026)

More from Arizona

Everything we have documented in Arizona, or search every Arizona article in the archive.

About this record

BlockFlockNow documents reported incidents involving Flock Safety cameras and automated license plate readers: council votes, contract decisions, misuse by authorized users, lawsuits, audits, and community response. Every record is reviewed by a person before publication. New to the topic? Start with What is Flock?, find meetings near you, or learn how to request your town's camera records.

Updated October 9, 2026. Corrections: blockflock@bytebunny.io. See all documented incidents or search the full article archive.