RADICAL VISION

POLICE DEPARTMENTS ACROSS THE COUNTRY ARE EMBRACING AI-ENHANCED SURVEILLANCE IN THE NAME OF STOPPING CRIME. HERE'S HOW ONE SECURITY FIRM IS LEADING THE EFFORT AND PROFITING OFF OUR FEARS

- AINSLEY HARRIS

A RED HYUNDAI SUV MAKES ITS WAY THROUGH DOWNTOWN SAN FRANCISCO ON A BRIGHT AUGUST AFTERNOON. THE CAR LOOKS INNOCUOUS, BUT A DAY EARLIER, POLICE HAD LINKED IT TO THE BREAK-IN OF ANOTHER CAR AND ADDED IT TO A SO-CALLED HOT LIST OF WANTED VEHICLES. NOW, THE CITY'S LICENSE PLATE RECOGNITION CAMERAS, OR LPRS, ARE STATIONED AT MAJOR INTERSECTIONS, READY AND WAITING.

One of those LPRS photographs the Hyundai's plates, matching it with the car on the hot list and sending an automated alert to SFPD's command center. Officers launch a drone to monitor the car. From afar, they watch as two people in hoodies and gloves emerge from the Hyundai, smash the window of a parked car, and wrestle suitcases from the back before driving off. Minutes later, police spike the Hyundai's tires, arrest the suspects, and confiscate their handguns.

Welcome to the era of tech-enhanced policing, the stuff of civil liberty advocates' nightmares and public safety advocates' dreams. It's a world where cameras patrol the streets and software helps solve crimes, and it's being hastened by a small number of surveillance companies, including the one behind the LPR that snagged that Hyundai: Flock Safety. The Atlanta-based startup, which also sells security cameras, first-responder drones, and a full suite of command-center software tools, signed a deal with San Francisco in March 2024 to install and operate 400 LPRs. By the time of the Hyundai incident in August, the city had already installed more than 200 of Flock's solar-powered, internet-connected, artificial intelligence-enhanced infrared cameras, placing them at intersections across its 46.9 square miles.