fromElectronic Frontier Foundation
2 months agoProcurement Power-When Cities Realized They Can Just Say No: 2025 in Review
In 2025, elected officials across the country began treating surveillance technology purchases differently: not as inevitable administrative procurements handled by police departments, but as political decisions subject to council oversight and constituent pressure. This shift proved to be the most effective anti-surveillance strategy of the year. Since February, at least 23 jurisdictions fully ended, cancelled, or rejected Flock Safety ALPR programs (including , , , Hays County , , Eugene, Springfield , and ) by recognizing surveillance procurement as political power, not administrative routine.