License plate scanners were supposed to bring peace of mind. Instead they tore the neighborhood apart.

When Flock installed 29 cameras in Dayton, Ohio, as part of a months-long trial for the police, residents were surprised and angry to see so many of them recording in the heart of the city’s Latino community — including outside a church where local immigrant families attend Mass and gather with friends. Residents there said they weren’t consulted or alerted before the systems were installed, and many of them asked, “Of all the neighborhoods in the entire city, why did you choose [us]?” said Kathleen Kersh, a senior attorney with Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, a legal aid organization.