License plate readers and facial recognition are spreading across America, and the promised payoff in safety is not showing up.

• Cameras that scan plates and faces are now everywhere, feeding data back to central databases.
• The deal offered to the public was privacy in exchange for safety.
• Harris County, Texas has over 3,000 plate readers and still saw more than 500 murders last year.
• Anyone questioning the cameras gets shouted down as anti-science or pro-cartel.

Outlook: Expect more cameras to go up while the safety argument behind them keeps getting harder to defend.