How Soon Until We Have A Chinese-Style Surveillance State?

Across Warren County, Virginia, and throughout the nation, a silent network of automated license plate readers (ALPRs)—most prominently manufactured by Flock Safety—is steadily expanding. Operating on nearly every major thoroughfare throughout Virginia, these high-powered cameras do not merely capture license plates; they record movement, track direction, and build detailed digital profiles of millions of law-abiding American citizens going about their daily lives. While framed as modern, essential tools for public safety, the rapid proliferation of mass surveillance technology represents a very dangerous step toward totalitarian control, mirroring the exact mechanisms of communism.

We can find at least eight of them on the roads entering and exiting Front Royal. We can see four of them in the Lowe’s parking lot in Riverton. There are at least 18 within the county.

No citizen of the Commonwealth of Virginia voted to implement these intrusive cameras nor allow commercial enterprises like Flock such unfettered access to our lives. No citizen voted to allow our law enforcement officials such warrantless monitoring of our daily lives.

To understand where this unchecked path leads, one only needs to look across the globe to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Beijing has perfected a high-tech dictatorship, trapping its population in a pervasive web of mandatory facial recognition, digital monitoring, and artificial intelligence. This infrastructure feeds directly into China’s Social Credit System—a dystopian, social chutes-and-ladders game designed to compel human behavior through continuous algorithmic judgment. In this system, citizens are closely monitored at every turn: every red light crossed, every dissenting comment posted, and every association made is tabulated into a running score. In China, the consequences for falling out of favor with the regime are immediate and devastating. Transgressors find themselves systematically cut off from basic financial transactions, frozen out of bank accounts, blocked from securing loans, and stripped of the ability to purchase train or plane tickets. By controlling access to mobility and commerce, the ruling party renders open political dissent virtually impossible, effectively turning everyday technology into an invisible, inescapable prison.

When government institutions begin installing regional tracking networks capable of logging the movements of innocent citizens without a warrant or probable cause, the foundational line between a free republic and an authoritarian regime begins to blur. Surveillance infrastructure built today for convenience can easily be weaponized tomorrow to enforce political conformity, control access to financial services, and silence opposition.

We must never allow this totalitarian apparatus to take root in the United States. Mass monitoring is fundamental to communism, but it is fundamentally incompatible with American constitutional liberty. Protecting human freedom requires total vigilance against the slow creep of state overreach, no matter how convenient or well-intentioned it is claimed to be.

I call on the Warren County Board of Supervisors and the leaders of the Town of Front Royal to rip out these unnecessary and intrusive systems.

I call on the free people of this county to let your voices be heard.

As Ben Franklin said, “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety”

We the people are and shall always be the final check on power.

LtCol. Joe Plenzler, USMC (ret.)
Warren County, VA

About Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor reflect the views and opinions of the individual authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Royal Examiner, its staff, affiliates, or advertisers.

The Royal Examiner welcomes a wide range of viewpoints and encourages thoughtful, respectful discussion on matters of local and public interest. Publishing a letter does not mean the Royal Examiner endorses the opinions, claims, or conclusions expressed by the writer.

Statements and claims made in letters are the responsibility of the authors. The Royal Examiner may not independently verify every factual assertion contained in a submitted letter, and readers are encouraged to consider the information and opinions presented with their own judgment.

Not all letters submitted will be published. The Royal Examiner reserves the right to edit letters for clarity, length, grammar, and compliance with editorial standards. Letters containing personal attacks, offensive language, unsupported accusations, or material that may violate the law may be rejected.

By submitting a letter, the author grants the Royal Examiner permission to publish, edit, reproduce, and distribute the content in print, online, and other formats.

We value reader participation and welcome differing perspectives. Letters to the Editor are an important part of community conversation, and we encourage readers to share their views on issues that matter to Front Royal, Warren County, and the surrounding region.