GoKawiilEngineer's homemade police-car tracking camera prompts visit from Peel Regional Police
Canadian software engineer Anthony Sistilli built a $180 automatic license plate recognition camera designed specifically to detect and photograph police vehicles, using AI tools to build the software. After he posted videos of the project to YouTube, two Peel Regional Police officers visited his home, expressing concern that tracking officers' movements could expose their routines. Sistilli said the system remains an unreliable prototype, capturing only two readable images of police vehicles during an hour-long test.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
The episode highlights how the same ALPR technology police use on civilians can be turned back on them, raising questions about surveillance reciprocity and who gets to watch whom. Sistilli suggests the officers' discomfort mirrors the concerns civilians have long raised about being tracked by license-plate systems, though police reportedly framed their objection around protecting active investigations rather than personal privacy. The story underscores that building a crude surveillance tool is increasingly accessible with cheap hardware and AI coding assistance, even if making it reliable remains difficult.
- Sistilli built a $180 camera system using AI-assisted coding to detect and photograph police vehicles specifically.
- Two Peel Regional Police officers visited his home after he posted videos of the project, citing concern over exposed routines.
- The prototype remains unreliable, producing only two readable police vehicle images in an hour-long test, showing proof-of-concept rather than a functioning tracker.
Raspberry Pi 4 Camera Module Kit — If you're inspired by DIY computer-vision builds like this ALPR camera project, a Raspberry Pi camera kit is a great way to start experimenting with object detection and vehicle recognition yourself. It's an affordable, flexible platform that's popular with hobbyists building exactly this kind of AI-powered surveillance or monitoring tool.
See Raspberry Pi 4 Camera Module Kit on Amazon → Affiliate link — we may earn a commission on purchases, at no extra cost to you. Product picked by AI based on this article; it is not a tested recommendation.Source: techspot.com — Skye Jacobs, 2026-10-12
Published there as: “An engineer built a Flock-like camera to detect police cars, says officers visited him afterward”
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