Why am I not comforted by that last bit?
You shouldn't be, because as the number of license plate reading and recognizing devices increases, the location and travels of just about any vehicle will be easily determined - both by government employees and everyone else.
In a few years the ordinary citizen will a cell phone will be able to look up the location and travel history of just about everyone, and there will probably even be an app which lets you see where Officer Smith eats lunch, so you will know he's not out on Highway 20 with a radar gun.
Of course, as you noted, Bill the Burglar will know when you are over at Home Depot as well. Whether that state of affairs is comforting or not is hard to say, but it seems like it does make everyone behave better.