The Special Committee on Health, Opportunity, Prosperity, and Education is set to take up the measure, which would prohibit the use of the camera systems that record and store license plate data. The committee's review marks the first formal council step toward potentially outlawing the technology citywide.

Automated license plate readers, or ALPRs, use cameras mounted on poles and vehicles to capture images of passing plates, logging locations and timestamps that police can search later. Flock Safety is among the most widely deployed vendors of the technology, and its cameras have spread rapidly through municipalities across the region.

Supporters of a ban argue the systems amount to warrantless mass surveillance, capturing the movements of ordinary residents who are not suspected of any crime. They warn the data can be retained for extended periods, shared across agencies, and misused — including by officers or officials with improper motives. Privacy advocates have pressed cities nationwide to reconsider contracts with Flock and similar vendors.

Opponents of a ban counter that the cameras are a proven tool for solving crimes, from stolen vehicles to violent offenses, and that removing them would leave police without a resource that has produced leads in cases that might otherwise go cold.

Several municipalities have already moved to ban or restrict the cameras, adding pressure on Providence officials to decide whether the city will follow suit. The committee's discussion is expected to draw testimony from residents, privacy groups, and law enforcement representatives.

The outcome could shape how Providence balances public safety investments against privacy protections — a question with particular resonance in a city where residents have long raised concerns about policing and equity. Any ordinance advanced by the committee would still need approval from the full City Council before taking effect.