Alabama cannot surveil its way to safety: op-ed

This is a guest opinion column

Driving through Alabama, you may not notice them. They sit quietly above intersections, parking lots, and highways, capturing license plates as cars pass beneath them. Flock cameras have become another tool in law enforcement’s arsenal, promising to help police locate suspects and solve crimes faster. I am not against technology that can help solve a murder or find a missing child, but I think Alabama is asking the wrong question. We keep asking how we can become better at catching people after crimes occur; instead we should be asking what it would take to prevent those crimes from happening in the first place.