Pinal County Sheriff Ross Teeple told a U.S. Senate subcommittee on Sept. 23 that the newest AI-powered camera networks can violate people's Fourth Amendment rights, and he asked Congress to write clear limits on automated surveillance into law.

Teeple was one of five witnesses at the hearing, held by the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism and chaired by Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri. The sheriff's office said Hawley invited him after Teeple became one of the first sheriffs in the country to end a contract with Flock Safety, the company whose license plate reader cameras have been posted along roads across the San Tan Valley area. The committee has posted the hearing video and each witness's written testimony.

The Pinal County Sheriff's Office provides law enforcement for the whole San Tan Valley area, both inside the Town of San Tan Valley and in the unincorporated communities around it. When the sheriff's office briefed the Town Council in July, it counted 45 Flock cameras countywide, 22 of them inside town limits. The town itself has never had an agreement with Flock, Town Manager Brent Billingsley said at the Sept. 2 council meeting.

What Happens to the Cameras Here

Two separate steps are ending Flock's presence on county roads. On Aug. 5, Teeple told the Board of Supervisors the sheriff's office would not renew its Flock contract, which covers leasing the cameras and the service that runs them. SanTanValley.com reported his reasons that day. That contract ends Sept. 29, and with it the sheriff's office use of the cameras.

A week later, on Aug. 12, the board voted 4-1 to issue a 180-day termination notice ending Flock's permission to keep its poles and equipment in county rights of way. That is the step that takes the hardware off the roads. The county had not set a removal schedule when the board voted. Cities and towns that run their own Flock programs are not affected.

The sheriff's office said in August that it would keep using a different set of cameras, run by its anti-smuggling unit, that photograph only the back of a license plate and carry no video or recognition software.

What Teeple Told Senators

In his written testimony, Teeple said he still supports license plate readers that do nothing but read plates. He called them "a great tool" that helps deputies solve crimes, catch dangerous criminals, find missing people and respond to Amber Alerts.

His concern is newer systems built on artificial intelligence and machine learning that can capture far more than a snapshot of a plate. He compared them to the physical trackers deputies need a warrant to place on a vehicle, and said the camera networks can build "an identical, AI-driven map of a citizen's life."

He described Pinal County to senators as the size of Connecticut, sitting between Arizona's two biggest cities and crossed by Interstates 10 and 8, which he called some of the busiest human and drug trafficking corridors in the country. Given that, he said, it would be irresponsible not to give deputies the best technology. "But I will never allow technology to supersede our rights," he said.

InvestigateTV, which covered the hearing, reported that Teeple told senators he had asked Flock whether its cameras used AI and was told they did not, then later saw a company statement that suggested otherwise. When he asked about the difference, he said, "The response I received was chilling. I was told, 'That wasn't the AI you were asking about.'"

His testimony also said law enforcement should not wait for the U.S. Supreme Court to rule before protecting people's privacy. He closed by asking Congress to set clear boundaries in law for automated surveillance.

The sheriff's office Flock contract ends Sept. 29. Continue following SanTanValley.com as the county sets a schedule for taking the equipment down.