DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) – Mayor Shenise Turner-Sloss and Commissioner Darryl Fairchild released a statement on the Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) being pulled from service after unauthorized use.
“We write today with heavy hearts but with full commitment to transparency and accountability on behalf of the residents of this community. Yesterday, Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) were pulled from service following confirmation that data collected through this technology was shared in an unauthorized manner. This is exactly the outcome we feared and warned about. To our community: We are deeply disappointed. You deserved better,” wrote Mayor Turner-Sloss and Fairchild. “We want to be clear about the record. Community members called for an audit of this technology and its data practices. We both seconded that request. We followed up again in January, in person and in writing via email, demanding that the audit be conducted. Those requests were not acted upon. They were ignored.”
She said the Dayton Police Department was allegedly aware of this unauthorized data sharing since October.
“What is even more troubling is this: we have now learned that the Dayton Police Department may have been aware of this unauthorized data sharing as early as October. If that is true, the public was kept in the dark for months. And yet, in January, this technology was presented before the commission as though nothing had happened, with no disclosure of a known breach,” wrote Mayor Turner-Sloss and Fairchild. “This is not an isolated failure. It is the product of a broader culture, one that minimizes and dismisses the legitimate concerns of residents, evades accountability, and treats oversight as an obstacle rather than an obligation. Our community members raised alarms. They were not heard. We raised alarms alongside them.”
She continued and wrote about the commission’s accountability.
“We must also be direct about the commission’s own accountability. Our commission has failed as a whole to hold the City Manager accountable, and it cannot continue. Every member of this commission has a duty to this community and the majority must now step up and fulfill it. Silence and inaction in the face of known violations is not neutrality. It is negligence,” wrote Mayor Turner-Sloss and Fairchild.
The statement then included a list of four immediate demands.
- The full release of all audit logs from the inception of 2020 through the present day.
- A full accounting of when DPD first became aware of the unauthorized data sharing, who was notified internally, and what caused the alleged delay in sharing information.
- Why did the January 2026 explanation not include information on the policy violation?
- Immediate action by the full commission to bring the governing ordinance into compliance and ensure no surveillance technology operates in this community outside of proper legal oversight.
- A comprehensive review of the City Manager’s performance.
“Transparency and accountability are not optional. We will continue to push for both on behalf of every resident who placed their trust in us,” wrote Mayor Turner-Sloss and Fairchild.
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