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Canadian YouTuber Uses ALPR Tech to Track Police Vehicles
By Drooid · · How we work
Citizen-built ALPR camera tracks police
Software engineer and YouTuber Anthony Sistilli of Brampton, Ontario, constructed his own automatic license-plate recognition (ALPR) camera and positioned it to record the movements of local police cars. After the system began capturing patrol routes, a police officer visited Sistilli’s home to discuss the setup. The officer reportedly warned that the capability to pinpoint officers’ homes, shift start times and daily activities could expose them to personal risk from “bad apples” seeking to track them.
Background on ALPR technology and municipal adoption
ALPR cameras, popularized by companies such as Flock, have been deployed widely across North America for vehicle identification and crime-prevention purposes. Peel Regional Police recently allocated roughly 2 million Canadian dollars to install high-resolution cameras equipped with ALPR in the region. While the technology is not new, its use has surged in recent years, prompting numerous controversies over data handling, retention policies, and instances of misuse—including stalking, immigration enforcement targeting, and wrongful accusations.
Official response from law enforcement
Peel Regional Police did not provide a comment to Gizmodo when asked for a statement regarding Sistilli’s system or the officer’s visit. No formal policy clarification or public acknowledgment of the incident has been released by the department.
Concerns raised about privacy and misuse
Sistilli’s video highlights several criticisms of municipal ALPR programs: the aggressive marketing tactics of vendors, uncertain evidence that the cameras reduce crime, and the lack of transparency about how collected license-plate data are stored and shared. He argues that the same technology used to monitor the public can be turned against law-enforcement personnel, creating a reciprocal privacy dilemma.
Potential implications for surveillance policy
The episode underscores a growing tension between public-safety surveillance and civil-liberty protections. As municipalities continue to invest in ALPR infrastructure, the ability of private individuals to replicate the technology may prompt calls for clearer regulations on data access, retention limits, and oversight mechanisms to balance security objectives with individual privacy rights.