After Flock came to Hillcrest, hate crimes dropped. The community is now divided on whether ALPRs should stay.

In the past decade, the historic LGBTQ+ neighborhood Hillcrest has recorded the highest number of total hate crimes of any neighborhood in the city. However, hate crimes in Hillcrest have dropped since 2025, with other neighborhoods recording more hate crimes than Hillcrest for the first time since 2016. Some Hillcrest residents, business owners and San Diego Police attribute the decline to the introduction of Automated License Plate Readers in July 2024. Many of those same supporters now fear the number of hate crimes will spike once again if some city council members have their way, officially putting an end to the mass surveillance tool. On Nov. 16, San Diego City Council will vote on whether or not to end its contract with the company that runs the license plate reader network, Flock Safety. Councilmember Stephen Whitburn, who represents Hillcrest and surrounding neighborhoods, paved the way for the vote after publicly reversing his stance on the license plate readers.

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