Federal auto theft grants flow to police—but expand surveillance too
H.R. 568 — Auto Theft Prevention Act · Filed by Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) · 2 cosponsors · Introduced Jan 20, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill creates a $30 million annual grant program (2026–2030) for state and local law enforcement to combat auto theft and vehicle trafficking. Money flows from the federal government to state attorneys general, who must distribute at least 50% to local police departments and 25% to state agencies, with funding prioritized to areas with the highest auto theft rates. Eligible uses include buying equipment (license plate readers, vehicles), hiring officers, overtime, training, task forces, and data collection.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is a straightforward federal grant program to state and local law enforcement for auto theft prevention. It is not a tax measure, deregulation, or private-sector carve-out; it is direct public-sector capacity funding.
What the text implies
- License plate reader (LPR) funding may expand mass surveillance infrastructure without explicit privacy guardrails in this bill; LPR data retention and sharing practices are governed elsewhere but this bill accelerates deployment.
- The 5% administrative cap may incentivize states to minimize grant-application overhead, potentially favoring larger, better-resourced jurisdictions over smaller rural departments.
The full analysis lists 3 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
law enforcement equipment manufacturers (license plate readers, vehicles); data storage and software vendors serving law enforcement