By Samuel G. Michael

I recently saw a report that said Colorado is leading the way in artificial intelligence adoption for businesses. Across our state, more business owners and employees than ever before use AI for their everyday functions — driving efficiency and performance. This isn’t a surprise. The Centennial State has always excelled at implementing technology in ways that make people’s lives better. From the more than 2,000 aerospace companies calling Colorado home to the clean-tech startups spinning out of CU Boulder’s research pipeline, Coloradans have always understood the right technology, deployed responsibly, is a competitive advantage — not something to fear.

Right now, in city halls and county chambers across Colorado, a small but vocal group of activists is pushing to strip law enforcement of one of its most effective crime-fighting tools: automatic license plate readers. They’re doing it without offering officers a single alternative and with zero regard for who pays the price. If they succeed, the consequences won’t be theoretical. Communities across the state will be less safe, and the Ethiopian community will be especially vulnerable.

As president of the Ethiopian Community of Colorado, part of my job is simple: get more customers through the doors of the Ethiopian-owned businesses that represent the best of who we are. In my experience, there is no thriving business community without public safety. One doesn’t exist without the other. When people feel safe, they go shopping and venture out to new local restaurants and businesses. They attend cultural events like musical performances or art shows. Fear keeps people in their homes and out of our stores. Technology like Flock helps change that. It’s how Colorado proves, every single day, we’re open for business and serious about keeping it that way.

Hate crimes remain a constant, painful reality for minority communities across our state. Our community has rallied against hate again and again, but that doesn’t erase the fear that lingers for Ethiopian business owners and residents alike — the fear of violence, of vandalism, of being targeted simply for who we are. Modern public safety technology gives our community something we haven’t always had: confidence law enforcement has the tools to find whoever commits these acts and hold them accountable.

Law-enforcement departments across our state are stretched thin, and this technology gives already overworked officers something they desperately need: an extra set of eyes. It’s already paying off. Take what happened in my hometown of Aurora this past March. A 90-year-old woman with early dementia went missing for hours while en route to visit a sick relative. Her family didn’t know where she was. She wasn’t answering her phone. Officers with the Aurora Police Department found her in just 15 minutes using Flock technology, safely stopping her vehicle on the opposite side of the city from where she’d meant to go. Without that technology, police say, officers would have been reduced to driving around and hoping to get lucky — precious hours that, for a 90-year-old woman alone and confused, could have meant the difference between life and death. That’s not just a rescue. That’s time and resources a stretched police department got back, time they can reinvest in the community.

Opponents of this technology like to make immigration enforcement their centerpiece argument. As the leader of a community made up largely of immigrants, I don’t take that lightly. It’s something that’s always on my mind. But what’s too often left out of this conversation are the feelings of my own community. We deserve to feel safe. And that safety doesn’t have to come at anyone else’s expense.

I understand the skepticism. When so many immigrants in our community are already looking over their shoulders, trust doesn’t come easily. But I’ve come to believe Flock is a genuine public-safety partner, one invested in keeping our streets safe for everyone. At its core, this is technology purpose-built to hold police accountable while keeping citizens safe. ALPRs help our officers work smarter, not just harder and that supports fairer outcomes for everyone. Oversight, transparency and public safety aren’t competing goals. With Flock, that’s what equitable, modern public-safety technology looks like. We cannot let misconceptions and unfounded fears push our local leaders into abandoning a tool that has proven, again and again, its value to a safer, stronger Colorado.

Samuel G. Michael is president of the Ethiopian Community of Colorado, which has more than 3,500 members.