Las Cruces Police Chief Jeremy Story, citizen activist Derek Pacheco, and Flock Safety representative Paris Lewbel joined Peter Goodman and Nancy Baker for a conversation about the city's automatic license plate reader (ALPR) cameras. Story and LaBelo made the case for the technology's immense investigative value, citing a 2021 kidnapping/assault arrest and a road rage shooting conviction made possible by specific vehicle leads. They highlighted unalterable audit trails, case-number requirements for searches, and New Mexico's newly enacted Senate Bill 40 as robust safeguards against local law enforcement misuse. Pacheco strongly pushed back, arguing that mass dragnet surveillance is inherently unconstitutional regardless of internal rules, pointing out that citizens cannot 'opt out' of public tracking. He further warned of broader geopolitical vulnerabilities, noting that state-level data can be weaponized or leaked, citing Israel's use of Iranian surveillance infrastructure. The debate also covered the community mapping network DeFlock, the strict legal boundaries preventing data sharing with federal immigration agencies, and the hypothetical risk of a less scrupulous administration utilizing the 43 local cameras against journalists or political dissidents.
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