Trump Administration Allocates $277M to HIDTA for License Plate Surveillance

In July, the Trump administration allocated an additional $277 million to the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) program, which spans 33 programs across all 50 states. This funding enhances the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)'s National License Plate Reader Program (NLPRP), which utilizes data from automated license plate readers (ALPR) provided by companies like Flock and Axon.

The Houston HIDTA has notably paid $306,800 to Recruitful LLC for the creation and maintenance of its license plate reader database. This follows a broader trend where local police forces and private vendors claim to offer community control over surveillance, as noted by Cris van Pelt, creator of HaveIBeenFlocked.com. He argues that this obscures a wider agenda behind the use of such technologies.

The Hemisphere database, funded by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), has amassed over a trillion phone records, raising concerns about privacy and surveillance. Jeramie Scott has pointed out that the scheme adds layers of obfuscation regarding the usage of license plate data. Advocacy groups such as Southerners Against Surveillance Systems and Infrastructure warn that the implications of ALPRs and their extensive data-sharing networks are only beginning to be understood, highlighting the potential dangers of these surveillance tools.

This funding and the associated surveillance practices underscore a significant shift in how local law enforcement agencies interact with federal programs, particularly in the context of drug enforcement and public safety.