Bend: the law comes first.
SB 1516 makes a published, compliant policy a prerequisite to deploying ALPR or signing an ALPR contract — not a box to check afterward. Bend’s existing policy does not comply and no compliant version is posted. The City should fix the policy in public, weigh the trade-off openly, and only then decide on any expenditure — in that order, because the law requires that order.
Short version
In January 2026 the Council unanimously switched off four fixed Flock cameras — not over a technicality, but because the city had collected a database of who drove where and couldn’t control who reached it. Now the City is considering bringing fixed readers back through Axon — a proposal that nearly advanced on the city manager’s $250K-per-increment authority, with no Council vote. Oregon law now sets the sequence, and Bend is out of sequence.
Bend Council voted unanimously (Jan 7–8 2026) to turn off and remove four Flock cameras and not renew.
The Axon ALPR add-on was positioned to advance via the city manager’s $250K-per-increment authority, without a Council vote.
SB 1516 §7(1): an agency must publish a compliant ALPR policy before deploying or using ALPR.
SB 1516 §8(1): no agency may extend, renew, or enter a new ALPR vendor contract unless the agency and the contract comply.
SB 1516 §4(3)(a): 30-day maximum retention for non-case data — a ceiling, not a floor.
Bend Policy 428 (rev. Nov 2023) lacks the retention cap, the vendor end-to-end-encryption term, and the out-of-state-sharing limit; no compliant version has been published as of June 2026.
City Manager’s Report (May 1 2026): BPD wants to reinstall ALPR via Axon, evaluate two demo units, with a ~$19K grant.
~70 BPD cruisers already run Axon Fleet 3 in-car ALPR (since July 2023) — the stolen-vehicle use is already addressed, so the city should prove what marginal value fixed entrance cameras would add before any permanent buildout.
The fixed readers Bend is weighing are Axon Outpost/Lightpost units that feed Axon’s Fusus aggregation platform; and per Axon’s own FAQ, an agency running both Fleet 3 and Flock can connect them so records are searchable in Flock’s interface — "switching from Flock to Axon" does not necessarily exit Flock’s network.
A Vallejo, California randomized trial found 35–37% of fixed-ALPR "hits" were misreads.
ALPR errors have ended with innocent people at gunpoint: a Colorado family including a six-year-old forced face-down ($1.9M settlement); a San Francisco woman held over a single misread digit ($495K).
The Institute for Justice documented at least 16 cases of officers using plate readers to stalk partners or family.
Even at the 30-day retention ceiling, chokepoint cameras log enough ordinary trips — to clinics, houses of worship, union halls, protests — to reconstruct a person’s life.
What officials should answer
Do not approve or fund any new or expanded ALPR deployment, and do not sign or amend any ALPR contract, until:
- 01A public, SB 1516-compliant Policy 428 is published and independently reviewed.
- 02The full cost, retention, data-sharing, and encryption-key / data-controller terms are public.
- 03The City Council votes in public after a real comment period — keeping the Mayor’s commitment to a public vote. Fix the policy first; the law requires it.
- 04The benefit is proven first: independently audit what the 70 in-car readers already deliver, and demonstrate the marginal value fixed cameras would add — any trial time-limited, publicly reported, and sunset, not a permanent citywide buildout on self-reported numbers.
The other two
The contract passed — but ALPR isn’t activated. There’s still time to be heard.
The Bend ALPR expansion is still only proposed, and the County hasn’t switched plate-reading on. A short, sourced email to the Bend Council and the County Commissioners is the single highest-leverage action you can take this week.