By Bear Howard
Sedona, AZ — I’ve been on vacation, spending time enjoying the great outdoors, but this article that appeared in the Red Rock News, our local Sedona pulp newspaper, got my attention. With a little research, I have put together this rebuttal.
Read it and then read the article in question and see which “reality” you prefer.˜
Reframing the Narrative: When Sensationalism Undermines Public Safety
The article in question presents Sedona’s modest deployment of 12 automated license plate recognition (ALPR) cameras as a sweeping act of Orwellian overreach. But beneath the provocative headlines and selective quotes lies a more mundane and sensible truth: this is not a surveillance state—it’s a tool for public safety.
Distortion #1: “Mass Surveillance” in a Town of 9,600?
Framing this local initiative as the precursor to a national surveillance grid is both misleading and irresponsible. The technology being deployed in Sedona reads license plates—not faces, not private messages, not movement inside homes. It’s used to check plates against law enforcement databases for stolen vehicles, missing persons, Amber Alerts, and active warrants. That’s not mass surveillance—that’s targeted, situational response.
This is the same type of camera system found on police cruisers, at toll booths, and in most major cities and airports. It’s also been used successfully in nearby Cottonwood and Prescott without triggering mass protests or constitutional collapse.
Distortion #2: “No Crime Here, So Why Bother?”
Yes, Sedona’s crime rate is low. But complacency is not a public safety strategy. A proactive police force doesn’t wait for a crime wave to prepare—it invests in tools that allow them to respond faster, protect more people, and deter crime before it happens. That’s called good policing.
Claiming that we don’t “need” these cameras because Sedona hasn’t had a crime surge is like saying we don’t need fire trucks because there hasn’t been a fire this year. It’s shortsighted and reactive thinking.
Distortion #3: “Secretive, Undemocratic, and Hidden”
The article emphasizes the lack of a formal City Council vote or robust public debate as if this were a covert CIA operation. In reality, these purchases were made using the general fund during public budget hearings—a standard procedure for operational decisions like police software, radar units, or vehicle repairs. Not every decision requires a town hall or a referendum.
The city has been transparent post-installation, naming camera locations and answering questions publicly. This isn’t evidence of concealment—it’s an operational strategy meant to protect the integrity of active law enforcement tools. You don’t announce where your speed traps or DUI checkpoints will be, either.
Distortion #4: “Big Brother Is Watching”
Hyperbolic quotes from Facebook users claiming “we’re being watched” make great copy but poor arguments. These cameras don’t track where law-abiding citizens go. They don’t record who you’re with. They don’t peer into your car. They scan plates—data that’s already publicly visible to anyone standing at an intersection.
Every plate is encrypted, stored temporarily (30 days max), and accessed only for legitimate police use. It’s no more intrusive than a police officer writing down your plate manually—but it’s faster and more accurate.
Distortion #5: “Security Over Liberty”
This is the heart of the philosophical debate. But invoking Benjamin Franklin to argue against every modern safety tool is lazy logic. If we apply that standard literally, we wouldn’t have airport security, CCTV in banks, or even locked doors at schools.
Public safety tools can coexist with civil liberties—if they are implemented with oversight, auditing, access logs, and defined policy. Sedona has stated those policies clearly.
The real threat to liberty isn’t a city trying to track stolen cars and protect its residents. It’s misinformation that stirs up public distrust without offering real solutions.
Final Thought
The real distortion is not in the technology—it’s in the storytelling. This article cherry-picks quotes, leans heavily on fear, and undermines reasonable law enforcement tools that are commonplace across the country. If we want a safer community, we need to allow law enforcement the tools to do their jobs—with guardrails, yes, but also with trust.
Let’s have honest debates about privacy, but let’s also recognize when technology is being used responsibly. Public safety should not be sacrificed on the altar of sensationalism.
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3 Comments
Great detailed explanation Bear! Some of the very same people complaining about the system are the very ones demanding closed borders and deportations. This is the exact same system used at CBP checkpoints, USDA Dept of Agriculture checkpoints and is in most municipalities around the country. It is part of our border security which contrary to King Minus’s conception is not linear but is in concentric and overlapping circles that have concentric and overlapping systems just like these. The military uses a similar system for base and embassy security. On today’s battlefield our military takes biometrics from every foreign national they encounter be it a combatant or non combatant it has led to the preemption of enemy action. Had we had such a system 30 some years ago the OKC Bombing might not have occurred, 25+ years ago perhaps 9/11 would have been thwarted on the ground. Sure they might catch someone doing stoopid stuff like drag racing through West Sedona or Oak Creek in between our departments shift change which the dragsters seem to be aware of. But primarily it is used as you have depicted. TSA also uses this system to screen for passengers with active warrants, criminally affiliated, missing persons, terrorist and even foreign agents, military and diplomats.
Sedona does not have a high rate of crime but it does have frequent traffic stops resulting in large drug and or contraband seizures. We do have people “disappearing out of thin air” here as well as is the case of Ms. Yolan Miller who went for a drive and then vanished despite her car being found or the LDS polygamist who was recently sentenced to prison for kidnapping among other things. This system could and would aid in combating these types of crimes hopefully before it is too late to do so. As Bear stated many a police cruiser are also adorned with the very same technology and soon police body cameras will be interfaced with them.
If the system were to be abused and it certainly could be, there are already laws on the books making it a crime for law enforcement officers and agencies to use it for anything other than it’s intended purpose. Just as the NCIC LEIN system used by law enforcement to run plates and check ID’s, gun and vehicle serial/VIN numbers and peoples Criminal histories etc. can only be used by a certified logged in operator and can only be used for official purposes. Violators can face loss of Certificate, disbarment from Law Enforcement, 2 years imprisonment and other serious charges. So again, yes it could be abused but it’s highly unlikely it would be.
Any cameras that monitor the public are kinda Big Brotherly. They most definitely are in China. Since DOGE accessed the personal data of every American without cause or justification, I’d be far more concerned about that! Especially when our current administration is so fond of other Authoritarian regimes and have sour puss disdain for our own intelligence and military communities and loves making easy money above everything else. I’m sure it’s a two way street too! How else do you think Trump got previous critics like Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and most every other GOP politician bend the knee? Perhaps someone had their countries skilled hackers dig up Kompromat material on each and every one of them maybe even Trump himself which may be why he refuses to properly admonish Putin for his war crimes against Ukraine? Trump may have actually been able to achieve peace between the two had he listened to our military and intelligence communities. After all Zelenskyy has proven that he does in fact have the necessary cards. So rather than suffer a ginormous defeat at the hands of Ukraine Putin is now dedicating himself and his military to the development and mass production of their ominous and lethal missile the Oreshnik which they tested upon Ukraine earlier this year. The plan is to make Ukraine look like Gaza now does-Flatter than a Johnny Cake. And it could’ve all been avoided had Trump done the right thing and defend Ukraine from Russian aggression by providing them the tools to do the job themselves. All of the realty and mineral rights deals could have been settled afterward. But alas Trump has decided Putin somehow deserves to occupy and and eliminate the Ukrainian country and people. Iran is blowing up in his face too! Could’ve easily diplomatically avoided conflict by sticking with the monitoring and observing of their nuclear activities which would’ve meant eyes and ears on the ground rather than trusting the President of an Authoritarian regime known as Israel said we could do the same with Saddam Hussein by bombing Iraq and toppling Saddam he said the rest of the Iraqi’s wouldn’t want to fight us and the country would be ours. Boy was he wrong now wasn’t he?
Benjamin Netanyahu:
Netanyahu, who was not the Israeli President at the time of the US invasion of Iraq, stated in 2002 that Israel was certain Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and that the United States “must do something about this”.
He also claimed that toppling Saddam Hussein would have “enormous positive reverberations on the region”.
In 2003, Netanyahu stated he told the US that invading Iraq would lead to a swift fall of Saddam Hussein.
No different than the bill of goods he sold us over the recent strikes upon Iran.
“Let’s have honest debates about privacy,” writes the guy hiding beyond a pseudonym and AI-generated profile picture.
Sure, buddy.
Whatever.
When ICE arrests your neighbors because of Sedona ‘s ALPRS or Flock Safety has a data breach and everyone’s data is compromised, or Chinese, Russian or Iranian hackers gain access or Trump’s DOJ starts integrating Americans movements into prosecutions, you’ll be changing your tune … whoever you are “Bear” or “Scott” or “James”