Residents at the 435-unit Park and Ford apartment community in west Alexandria are raising concerns after property management installed AI-powered parking cameras from a company called Metropolis in the community's parking garage. The cameras are capable of tracking vehicle information, behavioral data and basic identifying information, and residents say they were not consulted before the system went in.
The installation was first reported by NBC4 Washington, which found that Metropolis cameras are also capable of tracking biometric data. Metropolis, which provides the AI-powered automated license plate readers now installed at Park and Ford, told the station its platform is completely opt-in and does not sell data, and that it collects only the information necessary to complete a parking transaction. The company also said it does not use its technology for surveillance and is not collecting biometric data at the Park and Ford location specifically.
That assurance sits alongside language in Metropolis's own privacy policy, which states plainly that “our Services involve collecting biometric data,” while separately noting the company does “not sell biometric data or use it for advertising.” The policy also describes how, at properties using its technology, Metropolis may deploy automated license plate readers and similar systems to collect video or images of vehicles and license plates along with the date, time and location of capture. Through what it calls its Recognition Platform, the policy adds, the company may collect face photographs and videos, facial geometry measurements, faceprints, recognition-event logs and behavioral inferences. Whether any of those broader capabilities are actually in use at Park and Ford has not been independently verified.
Residents Say They Were Left Out of the Decision
Roughly 109 Alexandria residents have voiced opposition to Metropolis being part of the community's parking system, according to NBC4. Cassandra McGraw said the community should pause and discuss the technology together before moving forward. Brittnee Sellers pointed to Alexandria's mayor, who Sellers said has opposed Flock cameras and said they have no place in the community, drawing a comparison residents are now extending to the new parking system.
Per neighbors interviewed by the station, Park and Ford property management is trying to solve a legitimate parking problem for residents, even as some worry about what data collection could mean down the line. Residents told NBC4 that previous parking scanners at the property caused access problems, a history that has made some wary of the new system's reliability as much as its privacy implications. According to a property-management email cited by the station, Park and Ford residents can opt out of sharing certain information with Metropolis, though the scope and process of that opt-out were not detailed. Park and Ford's community management company had not responded to NBC4's request for comment as of the station's report.
Similar Systems Already Running in Virginia and Maryland
Park and Ford is not the only place navigating this technology. Metropolis began using artificial intelligence to manage parking at Charlottesville's Water Street and Market Street garages on Dec. 16, 2025, according to C-VILLE Tomorrow. There, cameras collect information on a car when it drives in and recognize the vehicle based on that data when it exits. A Metropolis spokesperson told the outlet the Charlottesville platform actually identifies vehicles through a proprietary “vehicle fingerprint” based on unique characteristics rather than license-plate recognition alone — a description that sits in some tension with the company's own privacy policy language about license-plate reader systems.
Metropolis also manages several parking facilities in Annapolis, including the Knighton, Gotts and Park Place garages, according to Eye On Annapolis. The spread of the technology across multiple mid-Atlantic cities has made Park and Ford's dispute part of a broader regional pattern rather than an isolated case.
Where Virginia Law Stands, and Where It Doesn't
Virginia lawmakers intend to introduce legislation early next year that would ban automated license plate readers used by private companies, per NBC4's reporting, though it remains unclear whether any such bill would include exceptions for certain types of cameras. Virginia's existing statutory chapter on automatic license plate recognition systems, as codified by the Code of Virginia, addresses use of such systems by law-enforcement agencies. The available legal text does not establish whether that chapter, or a separate legislative provision limiting license plate readers to purposes like identifying vehicles tied to a wanted, missing or endangered person as described in a Virginia General Assembly document, extends to a private apartment parking garage like Park and Ford's.
The regulatory gap mirrors a national pattern in the growth of plate-reading technology. A survey cited by the Brennan Center for Justice found that in 2016 and 2017 alone, 173 law-enforcement agencies collectively scanned 2.5 billion license plates — a scale of data collection that has fueled scrutiny of the technology even as it expands from policing into everyday private uses like apartment parking garages. For now, Park and Ford residents are left weighing a management company's promise of an opt-out against a fast-growing technology whose full reach at their own building has yet to be spelled out.
