The Laramie Reporter reported that neither Sheriff Aaron Appelhans nor his challenger Daron Wyatt plans to surveil Albany County with Flock cameras or other AI-powered license plate readers. The two are competing for control of the Albany County Sheriff's Office in Wyoming, and the general election is Nov. 3.
Would Albany County's sheriff bring Flock cameras?
Not under either candidate's plan, based on the report. The positions come from statements made by each man, and the report does not describe any current contract between the sheriff's office and Flock.
- Appelhans, the Democratic incumbent, said he has received sales pitches and contracts about every 90 days and has turned them down for three to four years.
- Wyatt, the Republican challenger, said he has worked for agencies that use the technology and called it a good tool, but not one that fits Albany County.
Why are the candidates against it?
Appelhans ties his position to surveillance. He said he does not believe in mass collection of data and that it raises Fourth Amendment concerns. He also said he is not sure whether Flock's practices are legal.
Wyatt disagrees on the legal question. He said he believes the cameras are legal because there is no expectation of privacy in a public place, and he calls the issue one of data collection and responsible use. He said he does not trust that the data would be used responsibly and pointed to misuse he has read about across the country.
The report also notes that courts have generally protected similar police data collection, but that active litigation is testing whether Flock's wider data collection raises a new Fourth Amendment problem. Background on how plate readers work can help explain why that question matters.
What changes for drivers?
The report covers the Albany County Sheriff's Office and its candidates. It does not describe any change to cameras run by other agencies, by businesses or by homeowners associations, and it does not say how many cameras, if any, are currently in place elsewhere in the county.
A candidate's stated position is not a policy until an election result takes effect and the office acts on it. Drivers who want to see what is mapped near them can check the camera map.
What happens next?
Voters decide the race on Nov. 3. Residents who want to know where the sheriff's office stands on plate readers could ask the candidates or the office directly whether it has any contract, pilot or data-sharing arrangement with a plate reader vendor. Published transparency records are listed on the agency directory.