👻 Boo! It's Wednesday, and we're taking a look at something spooky hiding in plain sight: police surveillance cameras.

• Today's weather: Cloudy, then sunny. High of 70.

🎶 Sounds like: "Somebody's Watching Me" by Rockwell

Today’s newsletter is 980 words — a 3.5-minute read.

Flock has become the boogeyman of police surveillance, with Colorado communities increasingly ditching the license plate readers over privacy concerns.

Why it matters: Some are swapping Flock for competing technology, preserving the capabilities that sparked the backlash in the first place.

State of play: As the Nov. 3 election approaches, candidates are being pressed to take a stand on the future of police surveillance.

The big picture: At least a dozen Colorado cities and counties have dropped Flock or moved to replace it this year, including Arvada, Denver, Douglas County, El Paso County, Englewood and Lafayette.

• Some abandoned the readers altogether. Others, like Denver, turned to competitors like Axon.

Between the lines: Flock may be the face of the blowback, but it's far from the only company tracking us.

• Rivals, such as Axon, Motorola Solutions and Rekor, also offer technology that logs passing vehicles' plates, timestamps and location.
• Police use that data to investigate crimes — but it can also map movements of people never suspected of wrongdoing.

Zoom in: Denver's new Axon system still collects license plate data, but the city cut retention from 30 to 21 days and limited database access to local public safety personnel.

• Unlike Flock, which allows police to share license plate data through a nationwide network, Axon limits sharing to individual agreements between departments.

Yes, but: Key privacy protections still depend on the rules individual agencies adopt.

What they're saying: "If we're only concerned about Flock … we're missing the issue," Keith Guzik, a CU Denver sociologist who studies police surveillance, told Axios.

What Flock's saying

An exclusive Axios survey shows metro Denver law enforcement deploy a mix of surveillance tools, with different rules.

Zoom in: Littleton Police were the only respondents that didn't report using automatic license plate readers (ALPRs).

• Flock remains the most common provider.

And we're not just talking about roadside cameras.

• Boulder — and Boulder County Sheriff's Office — plus Parker and Lone Tree, are among those that use both fixed and patrol-mounted readers.
• Louisville relies on vehicle-mounted readers.

The fine print: Canceling a camera contract doesn't necessarily mean surveillance stops.

• Englewood cut ties with Flock in September but still uses Axon's vehicle-mounted ALPRs.

Why it matters: Your license plate data could travel beyond the department that collected the information.

• Parker, for instance, says it shares data only with Douglas County law enforcement partners.
• Boulder, meanwhile, makes its data available to "less than a hundred other agencies within the state."

Beyond plate readers, some agencies report using other tracking tools.

• Aurora and Lone Tree use facial recognition in investigations.
• And, beginning this week, Greenwood Village will use LexisNexis' Accurint Virtual Crime Center, which has "image-matching capabilities" that trained staff can use for investigations.

The bottom line: There's more to police surveillance than the cameras you see along the road.

Tell a neighbor

Big Brother comes in many shapes and sizes.

Why it matters: You might pass some of these cameras every day without knowing what they're capturing.

Zoom in: Here's how to spot the technology Colorado law enforcement agencies use to track vehicles, investigate crimes, monitor traffic and respond to emergencies.

📸 Roadside readers: Scan license plates and record vehicle details, including when and where cars pass

🚁 Drones: Search for suspects, document crime scenes and, in some communities, respond to emergencies before officers arrive

👁️ H.A.L.O. (High Activity Location Observation) street cameras: Monitor city streets and help investigate crashes and crimes

👀 Mobile surveillance towers: Provide temporary video monitoring

🚦 Traffic and red-light cameras: Monitor intersections, help investigate crashes and, depending on the system, document red-light violations

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Colorado lawmakers are preparing another push to rein in police surveillance as privacy concerns revive stalled legislation.

Why it matters: Both candidates for governor support tighter oversight — potentially changing the political math for restrictions.

What we're hearing: Boulder Democratic Sen. Judy Amabile plans to resurrect the Protecting Everyone from Excessive Police Surveillance (PEEPS) Act next year.

• She wants to start by requiring warrants to search most location data older than 24 hours and deleting records after seven days, with exceptions.
• Other lawmakers could propose more sweeping restrictions, Amabile says, including an outright ban.

Flashback: Three surveillance and data privacy bills failed this year, including PEEPS, which faced opposition from Gov. Polis and law enforcement groups.

• "Everybody knew that [Polis] wouldn't sign the bill if law enforcement didn't like it," Amabile tells us.

Now, public opposition to license plate readers is growing.

• An August YouGov poll found 46% of Americans opposed police use of the cameras, up from 33% a year earlier.

The intrigue: Law enforcement is already gearing up for next legislative session's debate.

Full story

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Thanks to our editor, Gigi Sukin.