What happens when a movement database sits on every officer's desk.

Texas: most cameras are owned by HOAs, MUDs and retailers — not the government

Reporting on Texas removal efforts found that most Flock cameras in the region are not owned by counties or police at all: municipal utility districts, neighborhood associations, retail stores and homeowners associations buy their own systems and choose whether to share footage with law enforcement — which is why local governments cannot simply remove them. Guadalupe County, Hood County, Bandera, Lago Vista, Magnolia, Austin and San Marcos have removed cameras; Conroe is pushing a November ballot measure and League City's mayor floated the same. Harris County renewed through June 2027 at roughly $869,000; Dallas runs 650 cameras and plans a one-year retention; Texas DPS approved a $26 million contract; East Aldine's package runs five years at nearly $1 million.

Public safety and privacy are not mutually exclusive.

— Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis

Source · KPRC/Houston Public Media · read it

Reporting says the 2026 contract terms grant a data licence that survives termination

Reporting on Texas jurisdictions trying to exit Flock states that the company changed its contract language in 2026 in ways that make exits harder, and that the terms grant Flock a perpetual right to use customer data even after a government has terminated its relationship.

That kind of permanent, warrantless tracking doesn't belong in a free society.

— Hood County Constable John Shirley

The other side Flock has said publicly that it does not own and does not sell customer data.

Source · Houston Public Media / KPRC · read it

A volunteer tracker lists 106 communities across 28 states that have cancelled, rejected, paused or removed the systems

The tracker records 46 contracts cancelled, 20 rejected, 19 camera deactivations, 12 pauses, 8 camera removals and one outright ban, across 28 states.

The other side This is a volunteer-maintained advocacy tracker. Its counts are not independently audited and are presented here as what the tracker showed on the date checked, not as an official figure.

Source · DeFlock The USA, Checked August 24, 2026 · read it

Scale of the backlash: ~100 jurisdictions off Flock; vandalism in 36+ states

NPR reported at least 100 cities have deactivated cameras or canceled contracts with Flock or similar companies, and that camera vandalism — theft, cutting poles, paint, gunfire — has been reported in more than 36 states. MIT Technology Review, citing NPR, put the figure at 30 cities in the year before February 2026; Flock notes cancellations are a small share of about 5,000 contracted agencies.

This grassroots uprising is just really remarkable. At the end of the day, it's not like anything I've seen in my 20-plus years.

— ACLU's Jay Stanley

The other side Flock notes cancellations are a small share of about 5,000 contracted agencies, and its CEO urged people to take concerns to city councils rather than damage cameras. Vandalism is a crime, and this site condemns it without qualification.

Source · NPR via KGOU · read it

Four officers under investigation across four departments in one month

Two officers in one city were placed on leave after an audit revealed what the department called a concerning pattern in their searches. An officer in another town faced termination and criminal charges over tracking an ex-partner. A third was placed on leave. Separately, a resident's plate was searched 88 times over seven days, logged as "suspicious activity" — she had no connection to the town.

We want to make sure that the privacy concerns are taken care of and that we still have this tool.

— Michael Bradley, president of the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association

The other side Flock did not respond to the newspaper's requests. Its chief legal officer has previously said misuse reports are "a good outcome" of the company's accountability tools.

Source · The Boston Globe, August 21, 2026 · read it

Officer indicted on 100 felony counts; the department shut its whole system off

An eleven-year Lufkin officer was arrested on two felony counts — abuse of official capacity and tampering with a government record — after a department audit and a Texas Rangers investigation. A second officer was placed on administrative leave. A grand jury later indicted him on 100 felony counts. The department suspended its use of Flock entirely.

While the investigations are ongoing, we have suspended the use of Flock cameras within the department.

— Chief Travis Brazil

The other side The department suspended its use of the system entirely while the investigations continue.

Source · KLTV · read it

3,000 searches on an ex-fiancée over several years, and no charges

A Jefferson Parish deputy was fired after an investigation found he used Flock to search his ex-fiancée’s plate more than three thousand times over several years. He is not facing charges. It is the highest single-officer search count in this record.

that doesn't make it okay.

— Sheriff Joe Lopinto, on the absence of charges

The other side The victim did not file a criminal complaint and said he never appeared where her car was detected. The sheriff acknowledged periodic audits had not caught it, and said the absence of charges does not make it okay.

Source · WBRZ · read it

Oklahoma City renewed 5-3 after weeks of delay, with new restrictions

The council renewed the Flock contract 5-3. Changes: the city, not Flock, controls federal sharing; retention cut from 30 to 7 days; data removed from the nationwide sharing platform except case-by-case; manual audits every 30 days. Council heard that an officer had been suspended three days for personal database use in 2024-2025.

Those aren't numbers. Those are people impacted.

— Police Chief Ron Bacy

The other side This is an example of a contract renegotiated rather than ended.

Source · KGOU (NPR Oklahoma) · read it

Six Arkansas cities ended or let Flock contracts expire; a seventh suspended

Centerton, Greers Ferry, Searcy, Mayflower, Farmington and Pea Ridge terminated or let their contracts expire, and Cabot suspended its programme pending review, citing privacy concerns or financial and administrative factors.

I've had law enforcement people say to me, 'This has been a valuable tool that we've used to do good things,' and I've had some people say it's a violation of privacy. And I think the truth is probably somewhere in between.

— State Sen. Mark Johnson (R-Conway)

The other side Flock announced new safeguards for late 2026 — shorter default retention and required case numbers — but gave no city-specific response.

Source · Arkansas Advocate, August 19, 2026 · read it

National Park Service is deploying Flock; rangers object

404 Media reported Flock cameras inside Yosemite and on an access road at Golden Gate NRA, with an internal NPS document also showing planned Verkada installations. Rangers objected on the record. NPS said the system monitors vehicle counts, travel times and wait times and said the cameras are "not connected to law enforcement or DMV databases."

I just think that every American should be free to visit our national parks without their location being traced and tracked by the federal government.

— A ranger

The other side The Park Service said the system monitors vehicle counts, travel times and wait times, and that the cameras are not connected to law enforcement or DMV databases.

Source · 404 Media · read it

Rhode Island governor ordered a 60-day pause and statewide State Police review

Gov. Dan McKee ordered a 60-day pause on new Flock installations pending a State Police review; existing cameras continue operating. South Kingstown voted unanimously to cancel; Narragansett, Glocester, Lincoln, and North Kingstown canceled or paused; Tiverton approved additional cameras 3-1.

Rhode Islanders also have legitimate questions about privacy, transparency, and how this information is collected, stored, and shared.

— Gov. Dan McKee

The other side State Police said the cameras aided a murder investigation, and the Police Chiefs' Association supported the review.

Source · Rhode Island Current · read it

Officer sentenced to six months for searches spanning tens of thousands of cameras

An officer was sentenced to six months in jail plus three years' probation for seven off-duty searches spanning between 15,234 and 92,702 cameras to track his ex-girlfriend. In the same state, another officer received probation on a misdemeanour misconduct charge and a detective was charged with felony misconduct.

He sought out those tools with purposes designed to keep people safe, and then abused it for his own personal and nefarious purposes.

— The sentencing judge

The other side Flock's response: it developed new auditing tools limiting vague search terms and requiring case numbers.

Source · Wisconsin Examiner, August 18, 2026 · read it

EFF's response: the reforms don't reach the underlying problem

EFF characterized Flock's changes as a mix of overdue fixes and cosmetic ones, arguing the retention and audit changes leave the fundamental architecture untouched and that a warrant requirement is the minimum needed.

The reforms are a combination of long overdue changes along with some cosmetic fixes that fail to address the fundamental dangers of this technology.

— Electronic Frontier Foundation

The other side This is an advocacy organisation's assessment, published in response to the company's announcement.

Source · EFF · read it

Roadside safety: poles without breakaway features prompt a nationwide Flock review of 100,000+ installations

A WGME I-Team investigation found standalone Flock poles in Maine appeared to be installed too close to the roadway or without breakaway features. MaineDOT standards generally require poles at least six feet from the roadway edge unless breakaway-equipped; MaineDOT said it had received no applications for Flock installations and that state right-of-way placement would require a waiver process. Safety advocate Steve Eimers documented hundreds of installations nationwide that may not meet state or federal standards. Flock announced a nationwide review of more than 100,000 installations.

This has been the wild west, this whole thing. We have to have standards in place so if we're going to have these devices on the roadside, then we know they're crashworthy.

— Steve Eimers, roadside-safety advocate

The other side Flock said that if its review identifies installations that should be updated, it will move quickly to address them.

Source · WGME (CBS 13, Portland) · read it

Flock's resulting policy changes

After a Washington Post investigation identified 46 cases of officers accused of misusing the network to stalk or harass romantic partners, Flock announced: mandatory case numbers before searches (previously optional), automatic auditing to flag suspicious activity, a recommended default retention of 7 days instead of 30, and an option for agencies to restrict other agencies' access by stated purpose. In mid-2025 Flock had also added filters flagging immigration- and abortion-related searches and paused federal pilot programs.

In America, you only get to investigate someone if you think they've done something wrong.

— ACLU's Chad Marlow

The other side Flock's CEO attributes customer losses to misinformation. The ACLU says officers had evaded earlier safeguards by entering generic search reasons.

Source · MIT Technology Review · read it

Flock's August 2026 policy changes — what actually changed

Following the Washington Post investigation, Flock made four changes: audit assistance flagging unusual search patterns became mandatory rather than optional, with automatic lockout of flagged users pending review; all searches must be tied to a case code linked to a criminal investigation by year-end (emergency searches bypass but auto-flag); the default retention recommendation dropped from 30 days to 7 days, which agencies can override; and agencies can restrict how other jurisdictions query their cameras by offense type.

We built a tool about four months ago to automatically flag potentially abusive behavior...we are now requiring all of law enforcement to use this.

— Garrett Langley, Flock chief executive

The other side Every one of these is a vendor setting a customer may override.

Source · FOX 13 Tampa Bay · read it

404 Media: fusion centers circulated bulletins naming the DeFlock movement

404 Media obtained four "law enforcement sensitive" fusion-center bulletins — from the Colorado Information Analysis Center, Wisconsin Statewide Intelligence Center, Northeast Florida Fusion Center, North Florida Fusion eXchange, Central Florida Intelligence Exchange, New Jersey State Police and New Mexico All Source Intelligence Center — monitoring anti-Flock social media accounts and DeFlock's National Week of Action Against ALPRs (Aug 16–22, 2026), listing 11 Florida cities with planned events.

there is extensive and ongoing chatter on social media platforms such as Facebook and TikTok regarding various methods to interfere with or physically destroy Flock LPR cameras.

— A fusion-centre bulletin

The other side The bulletins mix accounts of vandalism with lawful petitioning and camera-mapping activity. Destroying cameras is a crime and this site condemns it without qualification.

Source · 404 Media · read it

A new audit tool caught it, and the county pulled all 28 cameras

A newly acquired audit tool flagged an abnormal pattern of searches dating to January 2026 by a civilian police department employee using Flock for personal, non-law-enforcement purposes. The employee was put on unpaid leave, given termination notice, and resigned. The department disabled all twenty-eight readers county-wide and moved to a regional system. An outside agency is weighing charges.

This employee's egregious misuse of the data system may be limited to a personal matter, but I am committed to ensuring that every use of the tools law enforcement have are audited.

— Chief Kurt Frisz

The other side A newly acquired audit tool is what flagged it. The county disabled all twenty-eight readers and moved to a different system; an outside agency is weighing charges.

Source · First Alert 4 · read it

497 searches in two months, across more than a hundred camera networks

An officer among the department’s heaviest Flock users ran eighteen searches in April, 259 in May and 220 in June 2026, frequently across more than a hundred camera networks including data from outside the city. Her former partner reported repeated calls, calls from unfamiliar numbers, and unannounced visits. She was served an abuse prevention order requiring surrender of firearms, an internal affairs investigation opened, and she was placed on administrative leave. The department suspended its use of Flock pending review.

As of recently there is an open IA investigation of her running my [license] plate through Flock to follow me.

— The complainant

The other side The chief confirmed an internal investigation and administrative leave. No criminal charges were reported at the time.

Source · The New Bedford Light · read it

Searcy City Council voted unanimously to end its Flock contracts

The council voted unanimously to begin ending its contracts, with a formal letter to be sent to the company. Concerns raised included data storage and access, and records of people's movements created without warrants. The city had spent $27,900 on the system beginning in 2023.

Source · Deltaplex News; KARK, August 13, 2026 · read it

Centerton City Council voted to remove its Flock cameras

The council voted to remove the cameras from the city. The cameras had been switched off since the end of July 2026. Centerton is in Benton County, and was cited by Bentonville's own police department in 2024 as a neighbouring example of the system in use.

Source · NWA Democrat-Gazette; NWA Homepage (KNWA/KFTA), August 11, 2026 · read it

Norman, Oklahoma — council rejected Flock twice, 9-0 both times; HOAs installed it anyway

Norman's city council rejected Flock twice in three years, unanimously each time, over privacy, data security, the 30-day retention window and access/storage questions. Flock cameras nonetheless operate nearby through Cleveland County Sheriff's Office installations and homeowners associations.

I guess all crime could be eliminated if you put cameras everywhere, surveillance everywhere, and had drones patrolling the skies [...] but what life are we living then?

— Mayor Stephen Tyler Holman

The other side The council said no twice, unanimously, and the cameras arrived anyway through a county agency and homeowners associations.

Source · 404 Media · read it

Three deputies charged with stalking after an audit algorithm flagged three queries

The Bibb County Sheriff’s Office arrested three deputies on charges of stalking, prohibited use of a traffic control device, and violation of oath of office. An internal auditing algorithm flagged three separate Flock queries, which triggered the Internal Affairs investigation. All three were released on bond.

They weren't chasing burglars and robbers. … It all had a personal nexus.

— The Bibb County sheriff

The other side An internal auditing algorithm flagged the queries, which is what triggered the investigation. All three were released on bond and have not been tried.

Source · Atlanta Journal-Constitution · read it

West Virginia legislative interim committee questioned Flock directly

The committee opened three interim days of hearings on local government ALPR use, questioning Flock representatives on Fourth Amendment concerns, data security, and transparency.

Really what we're talking about is precision policing … providing law enforcement with that critical first clue.

— Flock's Kevin Kane

The other side Flock told the committee data is customer-owned, is not sold, that sharing is opt-in, and that it does not use facial recognition.

Source · Parkersburg News and Sentinel · read it

Flock pitched putting cameras in ~350,000 rideshare and delivery vehicles

Flock planned to install dashcams in roughly 350,000 Uber, Lyft and delivery drivers’ vehicles to feed licence plate data into its network, turning private drivers into mobile collection points.

Source · 404 Media · read it

Four Arizona departments in one month; two cities cancelled outright

Chandler police identified a potential misuse through a routine audit, immediately cut off database access for roughly two hundred members, discontinued its forty fixed readers and declined to renew its contract. Surprise opened an investigation five days later and cancelled its contract, requesting equipment removal. Officers in Goodyear and Apache Junction were placed on leave or resigned over similar conduct.

We have identified a potential misuse of the system by somebody in our organization.

— Chandler Chief Bryan Chapman

The other side Two of the four cities cancelled their contracts outright rather than continue.

Source · AZFamily · read it

31 searches, 29 of them logged as traffic infractions that never happened

An officer was arrested mid-shift and charged with accessing computers after allegedly using Flock thirty-one times to track her boyfriend’s ex-wife. Two searches happened off duty. She logged twenty-nine of the thirty-one as motor-vehicle infractions and two as burglary or robbery. The department runs monthly audits.

I don't think we are done yet quite frankly. We're looking at other ones that could turn out to be nothing, but there are certain ones we're taking a secondary look at.

— Chief Ron Campurciani

The other side The department runs monthly audits, and the chief said he did not think they were finished looking. She has not been tried.

Source · WBTV · read it

404 Media: leaked Flock guide teaching police how to sell Flock to city councils

404 Media obtained a Flock coaching document titled "How to Speak to City Councils: Meeting the Moment with Confidence," which instructs departments to brief city managers and council members before votes, to script presentations, to reframe cost discussions around "the cost of unresolved crime," and not to contest the "mass surveillance" characterization directly.

Own the narrative before someone else does.

— Flock's coaching document for police departments

The other side Flock did not respond to a request for comment.

Source · 404 Media · read it

Officer tracked his ex-wife during their divorce, and prosecutors found no crime to charge

A Brentwood officer allegedly used Flock to locate his ex-wife’s vehicle during divorce proceedings. Two agencies investigated and concluded no criminal conduct had occurred under Missouri law; an internal review sustained policy violations. Missouri has no statute prohibiting an officer from using a plate reader this way.

When I got home, he was very angry and mentioned that he did run my plates through the Flock camera to find out where I was.

— The ex-wife

The other side Two agencies investigated and concluded no criminal conduct occurred under Missouri law. An internal review sustained policy violations.

Source · First Alert 4 (KMOV) · read it

California SB 1013 pending; Newsom vetoed a predecessor bill

SB 1013 (Sen. Sabrina Cervantes) would cap police retention of plate data at 30 days absent an active investigation, restrict access and sharing, and bar contracts allowing default federal or out-of-state access. It is pending in Assembly Appropriations. Gov. Newsom vetoed a similar bill, SB 274, in 2025, citing cold-case and missing-persons concerns and audit costs. Rep. Thomas Massie has said he plans federal legislation withholding funds from jurisdictions deploying Flock cameras.

This bill is about one simple principle: Protecting the privacy and safety of Californians while ensuring law enforcement tools are used responsibly.

— State Sen. Sabrina Cervantes

The other side Flock's response: sharing with federal agencies is disabled by default, and ICE does not have direct access to Flock cameras, systems or data.

Source · CalMatters · read it

Washington Post: "How rogue officers turned a nationwide camera network into a tool for stalking"

Reporters documented at least fifty law enforcement officers charged with or accused of misusing Flock, across a network of roughly 120,000 cameras. The lead case is a woman in suburban Atlanta tracked hundreds of times by her ex-boyfriend, a local police chief. A follow-up piece describes how a single tip exposed the pattern.

who do you turn the chief of police in to?

— The woman who was tracked

The other side The investigation directly prompted the policy changes Flock announced eleven days later. A Flock investor called abuse a nonissue.

Source · Washington Post · read it

Pennsylvania — two competing ALPR bills in circulation

Rep. Tarik Khan (D) is circulating a bipartisan bill setting parameters on who may use ALPR data and for what, retention limits, transparency requirements and civil penalties for misuse. Reps. Brenda Pugh and Jamie Walsh (R) plan a bill barring private vendors from selling, transferring or licensing ALPR data without law enforcement authorization. Neither had been formally introduced. Citizen opposition campaigns were active in Munhall, Erie County and Bangor; in Franklin County residents cut down cameras and replaced them with American flags.

No one wants constitutional rights to be violated, especially in terms of privacy.

— Rep. Khan

Source · City & State Pennsylvania · read it

Cumulative federal-access timeline through August 2026

A policy tracker compiles the sequence: ICE conducting 4,000+ lookups through local agencies without its own contract (May 2025); an ATF analyst improperly accessing Richmond, VA's system for an immigration investigation (July 2025); Flock pausing all federal pilots (Aug 2025); Virginia reporting nearly 3,000 immigration-term searches on its statewide network in 12 months (Oct 2025); University of Washington researchers documenting "front door, back door, side door" federal access across at least 18 Washington agencies (Oct 2025); Woodburn, OR suspending Flock (Nov 2025); reporting that police used school district security cameras equipped with Flock technology for immigration enforcement (Feb 2026); and more than 50 cities and counties terminating Flock contracts by mid-2026, over 20 in July alone.

Source · Immigration Policy Tracking Project · read it

Rhode Island municipalities cancel or pause en masse

South Kingstown voted unanimously to cancel its Flock contract; Narragansett, Glocester, Lincoln and North Kingstown cancelled or paused. Tiverton went the other way, approving additional cameras 3-1.

The other side Tiverton went the other way, approving additional cameras 3-1.

Source · Rhode Island Current · read it

Six police department employees placed on leave after an internal audit

Four officers and two civilian staff were placed on administrative leave after an internal audit identified searches unrelated to law enforcement, targeting acquaintances and family members. One officer allegedly gave system access to someone from an outside agency. The state bureau of investigation opened an inquiry.

Misuse of law enforcement tools and technology by SPD staff will not be tolerated.

— Chief Lenny B. Gunther

The other side The department instituted weekly audits.

Source · WRDW, August 2, 2026 · read it

An advocacy compilation of 170 documented plate-reader abuse incidents

The Institute for Justice maintains a public database of documented abuse incidents compiled from public records and news accounts. It separately identified at least 27 cases in which reader errors led to wrongful stops, detentions or arrests, roughly two-thirds of which involved officers drawing guns before the error was discovered.

No one should have to prove their innocence on the side of the road because a camera couldn't tell a zero from an O.

— Michael Soyfer, Institute for Justice

The other side This is a compilation by a litigation and advocacy organisation, and is labelled as one. The underlying incidents are individually sourced in the database.

Source · Institute for Justice, 2026 · read it

Officer ran an ex-partner's plate 69 times, and her parents' plates 39 times between them

Over roughly seven months an officer ran his ex-girlfriend's plate at least 69 times, her mother's 24 times and her father's 15 times. He also placed a tracking tag in her wallet and showed her camera images of her own vehicle at intersections. He was charged with stalking and unauthorised access, and sentenced.

The other side The camera network was not the only tool used in this case.

Source · See resources, 2026 · read it

717 searches of an estranged wife's vehicle over 22 months

An arrest affidavit stated an officer made 717 unauthorised inquiries into his estranged wife's vehicle over 22 months, entering false criminal justifications. He was charged with offences against users of computers or electronic devices and official misconduct, placed on paid administrative leave, and indicated he intended to resign.

These resources are provided for legitimate official purposes only and must be used responsibly.

— Chief Isaac Jackson

Source · FOX 13 Tampa Bay; WFLA, August 2026 · read it

71% of felony and stolen-vehicle alerts stemmed from plate misreads

Police department records showed 1,427 alerts identifying vehicles as stolen or potentially connected to felony crimes. The department's own analysis found the software had misread the plate in 71% of them.

This is the error rate among the 1,427 alerts reviewed. It is not the error rate across every plate the cameras read, and it must never be stated as though it were.

The other side Flock's response: most of the misread data came "from 2025 or before," "the camera performance has significantly improved," and the city used older hardware at non-standard installation locations farther from vehicles than recommended.

Source · Business Insider, via Gizmodo and Davis Vanguard, August 2026 · read it

Littleton, Massachusetts — Flock restored power to cameras the town had voted to shut down

Littleton voted in May 2026 to shut down six Flock cameras. Without notifying the town, Flock restored power to five of them. Police discovered this when a detective logged in to confirm the cameras were off, then powered them down and removed officer access. Flock had a work order to remove the cameras.

Power was restored to the cameras based on Flock's standard operating procedure, since they were unaware we did not intend to turn the cameras back on.

— Police statement

The other side Flock attributed the reactivation to standard operating procedure, saying it was unaware the town did not intend to turn the cameras back on.

Source · The Boston Globe · read it

Auburn, WA — wrong man arrested after Flock-driven shooting investigation

After a 3 a.m. shooting, Auburn police used Flock cameras to identify a suspect vehicle and arrested a Des Moines, WA man in his 40s who police later said had "no involvement." He was interviewed and released; a different person was subsequently arrested for felony harassment. The department spokesperson attributed the initial account to internal miscommunication. The incident came one week after residents objected to the city's 37 Flock cameras at council.

It was a mistake on my end...It was a miscommunication between me and the person I got the information from.

— Police spokesperson Kolby Crossley

The other side The department attributed its initial account to internal miscommunication. The man was released and a different person was later arrested.

Source · Auburn Reporter · read it

Flock CEO's public description of the product contradicts its own product announcements

CEO Garrett Langley told ABC7 that Flock ALPRs only take still photographs. Flock's own June 2025 blog and a Forbes interview described live video streaming from LPR cameras, and a product announcement titled "LPR Cameras Can Become Video Cameras" promised a no-cost over-the-air software update. After publication, Flock disclosed it had discontinued the video feature in March 2026 following a five-agency pilot.

A car drives by, we take a picture. It’s a static picture of a car, and then we read the license plate.

— Garrett Langley, Flock chief executive, to ABC7

The other side After publication, Flock disclosed it had discontinued the video feature in March 2026 following a five-agency pilot.

Source · 404 Media · read it

Two more Georgia arrests, and sixteen others across five jurisdictions

A seventeen-year DeKalb County sergeant was charged with misdemeanour misuse of plate-reader technology and felony violation of oath as a public officer. A supervisor in the Conyers real-time crime centre was arrested after allegedly running more than thirty searches for her domestic partner’s car over four months. Reporting counted sixteen additional Georgia officers arrested across Albany, Richmond County, Fayetteville, Cherokee County and Greene County.

Misuse of law enforcement technology for any unauthorized purpose is a serious breach.

— DeKalb Sheriff Melody Maddox

The other side Neither has been tried. Reporting counted sixteen further Georgia officers arrested across five other jurisdictions.

Source · Reason · read it

Counterpoint: Columbus, Ohio audit found zero ICE searches but thousands by other federal agencies

An audit released ahead of a City Council hearing found ICE ran zero searches on Columbus PD's Flock network, while U.S. Border Patrol and Homeland Security Investigations ran 3,962 searches, 657 of which were identified as possibly immigration-related. Of roughly 19.7 million total searches, 15,577 (under 0.1%) appeared immigration-related. After filters were added in late 2025, January–June 2026 showed zero immigration-related federal searches. CPD ended data-sharing with 287(g) agencies.

Technology like Flock can be an important tool for solving violent crime,

— Councilmember Emmanuel Remy

The other side This audit cuts the other way on ICE specifically, and is included for that reason.

Source · ABC 6 (WSYX) · read it

Inspector General audit found 32.3% of stolen-vehicle alerts were false positives

Across August and September 2025, an audit by the Los Angeles Police Department's Office of the Inspector General counted 337 accurate stolen-vehicle alerts and 161 false positives out of 498, across a network of nearly 2,000 cameras. The department let its Flock contract lapse.

these inaccuracies can affect individual liberty interests, erode public trust, and potentially create substantial legal and financial liability concerns

— Office of the Inspector General

Source · LAPD OIG report BPC 26-184x, July 11, 2026 · read it

Chatrie v. United States — Supreme Court geofence ruling with disputed application to ALPRs

The Court held that searches of cell phone location history are Fourth Amendment searches requiring a warrant, rejecting the government's argument about the incapacity of short-term location information to reveal private matters. Attorneys quoted say the reasoning — focused on a technology's overall capabilities rather than a specific use — could apply to ALPR networks.

The other side Flock's position is that the ruling is categorically different from licence plate recognition. No court has applied it to plate readers in a published decision.

Source · The Record (Recorded Future News) · read it

Deputy arrested after an audit found three months of accesses with no law-enforcement reason

A Greene County deputy was terminated and arrested on charges of violating her oath of office and violating Georgia’s prohibition on law enforcement retaining plate-reader data, after an audit found multiple accesses over roughly three months without law-enforcement justification.

The other side An audit found the accesses. One of the charges is under Georgia's own plate-reader statute — the kind of law Arkansas does not have.

Source · CBS Atlanta · read it

Five officers fired and arrested in a single day

State investigators announced that five Albany police officers were fired and arrested for misuse of licence plate data and violation of oath of office, after an internal Flock audit found what the department called serious policy violations. The specifics of the misuse were not disclosed.

Any use of the technology outside its authorized purpose is unacceptable and inconsistent with the standards of professionalism, integrity, and accountability expected of every member.

— Albany Police Department

The other side The department said any use outside the authorised purpose is unacceptable. Specifics of the misuse were not disclosed, and none of the five has been tried.

Source · CBS Atlanta · read it

Two more Florida cases in the same month

A Sumter County detective was fired and charged over tracking her husband’s ex-wife using Flock and other databases. A former Niceville officer pleaded no contest to tracking another officer and that officer’s spouse.

The other side One was charged and has not been tried; the other entered a no-contest plea.

Source · FOX 13 Tampa Bay · read it

Institute for Justice: at least 27 documented wrongful stops, detentions, or arrests from ALPR errors

IJ identified at least 27 documented cases in which ALPR errors led to wrongful stops, detentions, or arrests, the majority after 2023. Roughly two-thirds involved officers drawing guns before the error was discovered. About one-third stemmed from machine errors (character misreads, obstructions) and two-thirds from human errors (bad data entry, misinterpretation). IJ notes Flock claims 93% plate-read accuracy against 20+ billion monthly captures.

No one should have to prove their innocence on the side of the road because a camera couldn't tell a zero from an O.

— IJ attorney Michael Soyfer

The other side No Flock statement is included. Flock claims 93% plate-read accuracy.

Source · Institute for Justice · read it

Joel Feder — automotive journalist tracked for days, boxed in by four squad cars (Plymouth, MN)

A New Jersey manufacturer plate reading "34 10 DTM" was entered into NCIC as "34 DTM," omitting the middle characters. Automotive journalist Joel Feder, driving a loaner Range Rover, was tracked over multiple days and then surrounded by four Plymouth squad cars in a Kohl's parking lot. The Plymouth chief acknowledged the data-entry error originated elsewhere.

The reason you have four cops here is because your license plate is registered as stolen license plates in our system.

— An officer at the scene

The other side Flock said an alert should be one part of an investigation, not the whole basis for a stop. The chief acknowledged the data-entry error originated elsewhere.

Source · CBS Minnesota · read it

San Francisco PD audit: 299 illegal inquiries; DEA, IRS, US Marshals, Forest Service, two state police agencies

An SFPD internal audit presented to the Police Commission found 299 illegal inquiries into the department's Flock network over one year. Chief Derrick Lew said the accessing agencies did not include ICE or DHS directly but did include the DEA, IRS, U.S. Marshals, U.S. Forest Service, and Idaho and Oregon state police. He shut off access from the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center. The city's Human Rights Commission and Department of Police Accountability are investigating. This followed the earlier finding that out-of-state agencies had queried SFPD Flock data 1.6 million times.

As helpful as the Flock cameras have been for the department, they have also caused immediate concern.

— SFPD Chief Derrick Lew

The other side The chief said the accessing agencies did not include ICE or DHS directly, and shut off access from the regional intelligence centre.

Source · Mission Local · read it

Four deputies charged in one county across a single year

A self-initiated plate-reader audit led to charges against a deputy in June 2026, then against a lieutenant and a sergeant ten days later — all fired, each held on bond, charged with unlawful access to the plate-reader database and violating their oath of office. In August a fourth was fired and charged with one felony count of violating his oath and one misdemeanour retention count, for conduct between October 2023 and December 2025.

The actions taken in this case, along with the three arrests earlier this year, make our position unmistakably clear: misuse of this technology will not be tolerated.

— Sheriff Frank Reynolds

The other side A self-initiated audit by the sheriff's office is what found them. None has been tried.

Source · Atlanta News First · read it

EFF: agencies subscribed to ICE's "Immigration Violator" hotlist through Flock

EFF filed records requests to determine which agencies subscribed to ICE's NCIC "Immigration Violator File" hotlist through their Flock systems. Blue Island PD (IL) and Sparks PD (NV) had it enabled; eleven other studied agencies had it disabled. Sparks had it on despite its own written policy listing immigration enforcement as a prohibited use. EFF published a records-request template.

vehicle and/or license data may be included

— The NCIC operator manual, describing the Immigration Violator File

The other side Eleven of the thirteen agencies studied had the hotlist disabled. One of the two that had it enabled had its own written policy listing immigration enforcement as a prohibited use.

Source · EFF · read it

Officer ran an undercover officer’s plate at a drug suspect’s request

A Charlotte-Mecklenburg officer was arrested and placed on unpaid administrative leave over an unauthorised licence plate query; he allegedly provided an undercover officer’s vehicle information to a drug suspect.

a betrayal of the public’s trust

— Chief Estella Patterson

The other side The chief called it a betrayal of the public's trust. The case has not been tried.

Source · Newsweek · read it

Chetek, Wisconsin — police chief installed cameras without telling the mayor or council

The Chetek Police Department installed two Flock cameras without notifying city leadership. Chief Ron Ambrozaitis said he did not need council permission because the purchase fell within the department's equipment budget.

He put them up without informing me or any of the council. He just went and did it.

— Mayor Jeff Martin

The other side The mayor ultimately supported the purchase, saying the chief had authority to buy investigative tools.

Source · WEAU (NBC 13) · read it

2,300 searches on one woman in five months

A Katy police officer was fired and charged with misuse of official information and stalking after allegedly using Flock cameras more than 2,300 times over five months to track a woman. Court documents say he also placed a tracking device on her vehicle.

The other side He was fired. The search count comes from one outlet's sourcing; a second outlet did not confirm a count.

Source · KHOU · read it

Institute for Justice: 45 documented cases of officers using ALPRs to track romantic interests

A litigation organisation documented forty-five incidents in which officers allegedly used plate-reader systems to track current or former romantic partners, or people they were interested in. Among them: an officer who tracked a partner roughly 180 times in two months; one who searched an ex-partner’s location more than two thousand times in eleven months; one with 166 searches; and a police chief who tracked an ex-girlfriend and her boyfriend more than two hundred times. Nearly all of the accused officers faced criminal charges and lost their jobs.

The fundamental problem with these systems is that they place private information about people's movements over time in the hands of every officer.

— Michael Soyfer, IJ

The other side Flock emphasises that it has internal safeguards. The compiler notes most cases surfaced through victim complaints rather than internal audits.

Source · Institute for Justice · read it

Volusia County, Florida — woman jailed 13 days in a fatal hit-and-run; wrong vehicle

Investigators arrested 23-year-old Lindsey Isaacs after witnesses described a black SUV and Flock cameras captured her black Durango near the crash site around the time of the collision. Investigators later determined the striking vehicle was a maroon Dodge Durango driven by another person. Isaacs spent 13 days in jail before charges were declined.

I feel there's really no way of correcting what they did to me.

— Lindsey Isaacs

The other side Florida Highway Patrol declined to answer questions, calling the case active. The camera was one input among witness statements, not the sole basis for the arrest.

Source · WKMG / ClickOrlando · read it

Tan v. City of San Jose — Institute for Justice Fourth Amendment suit over a Flock-supplied network

Plaintiffs Tony Tan, Scott West, and Colin Wolfson sued the City of San Jose over roughly 474 Flock Safety cameras capturing more than 360 million photographs annually, retained 30 days and accessible to thousands of government employees across California. The claim is warrantless mass surveillance under the Fourth Amendment.

The database has been searched more than 4,000 times in the last 30 days

— The Institute for Justice, in its case materials

The other side Active litigation, no ruling. Flock is not named as a defendant.

Source · Institute for Justice · read it

Oregon SB 1516 and HB 2186; Virginia HB 2724; California SB 274 veto and the Cervantes bill

Virginia's HB 2724 (effective July 1, 2025) imposed 21-day retention, prohibited out-of-state and federal sharing, created a vendor-approval process and annual reporting. Oregon's SB 1516 (signed March 31, 2026) restricts ALPR data sharing to Oregon agencies only, barring interstate and federal access; Oregon HB 2186 sets 30-day retention absent a criminal inquiry or court proceeding. California's SB 274 (60-day retention plus randomized audits) passed the legislature but was vetoed by Gov. Newsom in October 2025. A new California bill by Sen. Sabrina Cervantes (Riverside) — 30-day deletion timelines, employee-access safeguards and deployment restrictions — passed the State Senate and is in the Assembly.

We've seen abuses throughout California with many counties who have abused this system. They've used ALPR systems to track immigrants, facilitate unlawful data sharing and even stalk and harass private citizens.

— State Sen. Sabrina Cervantes

The other side One state's governor vetoed a similar bill, citing cold-case and missing-persons concerns and audit costs.

Source · ObscureIQ state map · read it

Washington SB 6002, the Driver Privacy Act — first comprehensive state ALPR statute

Gov. Bob Ferguson signed SB 6002, codified as a new chapter of RCW Title 10. It limits ALPR use to enumerated purposes (stolen vehicles, missing/endangered persons, felony and gross-misdemeanor warrants, parking, impound, weigh-station and traffic-study uses); bans immigration enforcement use and tracking of constitutionally protected activity; bans data collection near healthcare facilities, schools, places of worship, courts, food banks and immigration-services facilities; sets retention from 12 hours to 30 days by purpose (21 days as the general standard); bars sharing except as required in a judicial proceeding; bars buying and selling plate data; requires a warrant before law enforcement may access ALPR data held by a private company; and mandates audit trails retained two years, system registration by Sept 30, 2026, and compliant use policies by Dec 1, 2027. Eight Washington municipalities had already shut cameras off: Everett, Redmond, Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace, Stanwood, Sedro-Woolley, Skamania County and Olympia. Two Washington superior courts (Skagit, Nov 6, 2024; Snohomish, Feb 25, 2026) ruled ALPR footage is a public record.

a truly well-worked solution to a real problem

— Rep. Jim Walsh

Source · MRSC · read it

Bowling Green, Kentucky — AG upheld withholding of Flock camera locations from a records request

Journalist Morgan Watkins requested the locations of Bowling Green's Flock cameras; police refused. The Kentucky Attorney General ruled the department did not violate the open records law, finding camera locations tied to ongoing law enforcement efforts and exempt.

could reduce their effectiveness and interfere with police work

— The Attorney General's decision

The other side The decision is appealable to circuit court. This is a transparency ruling, not a misuse finding.

Source · WBKO · read it

The Marshall Project: personal misuse across multiple states

The Marshall Project documented officers in Orange City (Florida), Sedgwick (Kansas), and Braselton (Georgia) accused of ALPR misuse, including two police chiefs, alongside the Wisconsin cases. It also reported that a San Francisco officer was investigated for using Flock to locate his wife's stolen vehicle. It found 55 Virginia agencies reported taking no public-awareness measures about ALPR use, 20 shared data with out-of-state agencies, and 9 provided continuous federal access.

Flock cameras can be turned against the very people the technology purports to protect.

— Jon McCray Jones, ACLU-Wisconsin

The other side A Flock spokesperson acknowledged misuse cases but characterised them as minimal relative to overall usage, and pointed to audit logs.

Source · The Marshall Project · read it

Javorsky v. Flock Group, Inc. — California class action naming Flock directly

Daniel Javorsky and Anthony Mayor, represented by Gibbs Mura, sued Flock Group Inc. on behalf of a putative class, alleging violations of California's ALPR Privacy Act (Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1798.90.5 et seq.), negligence, invasion of privacy under the California Constitution Art. I § 1, intrusion upon seclusion, and Unfair Competition Law violations. Counsel cited 1.6 million out-of-state searches of the San Francisco PD database in seven months and over 1 million outside searches of Los Altos's database.

The collection of a license plate number, location, and time stamp over multiple time points can identify not only a person's exact whereabouts but also their pattern of movement.

— The complaint

The other side These are unproven allegations. Flock said it takes privacy, legal compliance and data security extremely seriously and will vigorously defend itself.

Source · Complaint (PDF) · read it

Denver ended the Flock contract four months later

Denver did not renew with Flock and selected Axon as replacement vendor, with a new contract barring sharing with federal authorities, limiting retention, and requiring state agencies to agree to Denver's standards.

We've heard the community loud and clear and it is time to make a change.

— Mayor Johnston

The other side Flock said it hopes to work with Denver again and continues to serve more than a hundred cities in Colorado. Denver replaced one plate-reader vendor with another, and the ACLU of Colorado opposed the replacement contract.

Source · Axios Denver · read it

Deputy added a woman he met on a film set to a hotlist, then pursued her at 70 mph

A Monroe County deputy met a 27-year-old actress while working security on a television production. He searched state and federal driver databases repeatedly and added her vehicle to a plate-reader hotlist so the system would alert him to her movements. Sixteen days later he pursued her at up to 70 mph through no-passing zones, nearly causing a head-on collision, and stopped her. He was fired and charged with felony misuse of law enforcement computers and networks.

I told you I’d find you and pull you over.

— The deputy, during the stop

The other side He was fired. The case has not been tried.

Source · Local 10 · read it

Austin — police kept using Flock data after the city ended its program

After the council ended Austin's Flock contract in June 2025, KUT found APD accessed Flock cameras operated by Round Rock and Sunset Valley police departments within the prior month. APD said it has no direct Flock access but can request data from other agencies.

There may be situations where APD requests assistance from peer law enforcement agencies, such as during a joint investigation.

— Austin Police Department

The other side Austin PD said it has no direct access and that it may request assistance from peer agencies during joint investigations, and that it was evaluating its previous policy.

Source · KUT (NPR Austin) · read it

Mountain View, CA: 17 months of federal access the department did not know about; contract terminated

More than 250 California agencies accessed Mountain View's Flock data without authorization, and federal entities (reported as ATF, Air Force and GSA Inspector General) accessed it during a three-month window in late 2024 while a "national lookup" setting was on. The chief said Flock enabled the setting without notifying the department and did not tell it when the setting was turned off. He disabled all 30 cameras; council voted unanimously to terminate. Santa Cruz and Los Altos Hills terminated in January 2026; Santa Clara County voted 3-2 on Feb 25 to bar Flock.

Flock turned that setting on without notifying Mountain View police, and did not tell the department when it was turned off.

— Chief Mike Canfield

The other side The chief said he no longer had confidence in the vendor. Council voted unanimously to terminate.

Source · Mountain View Voice · read it

ACLU model legislation and campaign figures

The ACLU’s plate-reader campaign published model state legislation in February 2026, filed a Fourth Circuit amicus brief in April 2026, and supported a bipartisan amendment to a federal highway funding bill in May 2026.

The other side This is an advocacy organisation's campaign.

Source · ACLU · read it

More drone waivers in ten months than in the previous seven years

More than a thousand law enforcement and public safety agencies held FAA waivers for autonomous drone operations by February 2026, and the FAA approved more beyond-visual-line-of-sight waivers between April 2025 and February 2026 than in the prior seven years combined. Nashville Metro Police ended a Drone as First Responder trial in August 2026 after public objection.

It seemed much more palatable for a drone to be framed as a 'first responder' … But in practice it is plain old surveillance.

— EFF's Beryl Lipton

The other side Not every drone programme described is a Flock product; other vendors supply some of them.

Source · Truthout · read it

Couple detained at gunpoint over a one-character misread, infant in the car

A camera misread a plate by one character and flagged a black Chevrolet Tahoe as stolen. An officer stopped the vehicle in a parking lot and drew his weapon; the driver and a passenger seated next to a one-month-old child were detained. The vehicle was not stolen. The department later established a transparency portal stating data is retained 30 days and requires a valid reason for access.

It's horrifying, and that's only going to become more common as these license plate readers proliferate.

— Michael Soyfer, Institute for Justice

The other side No vendor response appears in the article.

Source · KATV (ABC, Little Rock), March 18, 2026 · read it

Schmidt v. City of Norfolk — summary judgment for the city; appeal pending in the Fourth Circuit

Two Norfolk residents, represented by the Institute for Justice, challenged the city’s 176 Flock cameras under the Fourth Amendment. Their vehicles were photographed 475 and 325 times respectively over four months in 2025. The district judge held the system does not violate the Fourth Amendment, distinguishing the Supreme Court’s cell-site decision on the ground that the cameras capture discrete images rather than continuous movement. The plaintiffs appealed to the Fourth Circuit, where the case is undecided.

An individual scan of a license plate … does not invade any privacy interests.

— Judge Davis

The other side The appeal is undecided. The United States filed in support of the city, arguing Americans lack a reasonable expectation of privacy on public roads.

Source · Courthouse News Service · read it

Security researcher found 67 exposed Flock camera feeds and debug interfaces across 15 states

Researcher "GainSec," with input from Benn Jordan and 404 Media's Jason Koebler, found 67 unauthenticated Flock PTZ and LPR feeds and debug web interfaces exposed on Verizon Business infrastructure. Exposed data included device serial numbers and camera IDs, RTSP digest credentials and session IDs, Auth0 tokens, FRP tunnel session identifiers, video file paths, cleartext passwords on some units, and system logs. The root cause was described as devices on cellular connections lacking carrier-grade NAT and ISP-level firewalling, combined with services binding to all interfaces.

The other side The researcher reported the findings before publishing, and says all 67 were no longer exposed by the final check.

Source · GainSec · read it

A state transportation department found more than 200 unauthorised cameras and paused approvals

A state department of transportation identified over 200 cameras installed in the state right-of-way without authorisation, and paused further permit approvals. Reporting identified unpermitted installations across at least seven states.

The other side The company has attributed permitting failures to unclear jurisdiction lines between agencies.

Source · Forbes and state records, 2026 · read it

279 federal immigration queries in the system's first three weeks — from a default setting

A city discovered that federal immigration queries had reached its data within three weeks of the system going live, through a sharing setting that was enabled by default rather than by any decision the city made.

Directly relevant to the written question each Northwest Arkansas city is being asked: produce every network membership and sharing setting, and state which were enabled by default.

The other side Flock's standing position is that sharing with federal agencies is disabled by default and that immigration enforcement has no direct access to its cameras, systems or data.

Source · See resources, 2026 · read it

A lieutenant ran 2,700 unauthorised searches on 14 people

A sheriff's office lieutenant was found to have run more than 2,700 unauthorised searches targeting 14 individuals.

Source · See resources, 2026 · read it

Roughly 60 cameras found livestreaming to the open internet, including over a playground

A technologist working with reporters found at least 60 cameras reachable online with no encryption, username or password. Live feeds and 30 days of archived footage were accessible, along with administrative functions including camera settings, diagnostics, logs and video deletion. Locations included parking lots, stoplights, bike paths and a children's playground.

None of the data or video footage was encrypted. There was no username or password required.

— Benn Jordan

The other side Flock called it "a limited misconfiguration on a very small number of devices" that had "since been remedied."

Source · Straight Arrow News, December 22, 2025 · read it

San Diego — man jailed nearly a month after a Flock "vehicle signature" hit five miles from the crime

After an attempted carjacking in Golden Hill, a Flock camera in Old Town captured a different red Alfa Romeo 23 seconds after the pursuit began, five miles away. A detective wrote that he recognized the vehicle in the image "due to the red paint and black tinted windows." Three men were arrested. Hugo Parra spent nearly a month in jail before charges were dropped.

This Flock hit was obviously the wrong car, as it could not have been in both places simultaneously.

— Attorney Alex Coolman

The other side San Diego Police and the City Attorney declined to comment, citing pending litigation. Flock offered no statement.

Source · Times of San Diego · read it

EFF: 50+ agencies ran protest-related Flock searches

EFF analyzed 10 months of Flock search data and identified more than 50 federal, state, and local agencies that ran searches tied to protests, including "No Kings," "Hands Off!," and 50501 demonstrations. In some cases searches targeted specific activist groups.

The other side Flock did not respond to a request for comment.

Source · The Record (Recorded Future News) · read it

Police chief arrested by state investigators for plate-reader misuse, stalking and harassment

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation arrested a town police chief on charges of violation of oath by a public officer, stalking, harassing communications, and multiple counts of misuse of automated license plate recognition systems. The investigation was requested by the county sheriff's office.

[The chief] misused the automated license plate recognition systems to harass and stalk multiple individuals.

— Georgia Bureau of Investigation

Source · Georgia Bureau of Investigation, November 19, 2025 · read it

Wyden and Krishnamoorthi ask FTC to investigate Flock's cybersecurity

The letter states Flock does not require multi-factor authentication for law enforcement accounts and does not natively support phishing-resistant MFA, relying on weaker methods such as SMS codes. It states at least 35 Flock customer account passwords were stolen and offered on cybercrime forums, and that password sharing among officers went undetected.

Flock does not require it, which the company confirmed to Congress in October.

— The letter to the Federal Trade Commission

The other side These are the senators' allegations. No FTC finding has been announced.

Source · U.S. Senate (Wyden) · read it

EFF: 12 million searches analyzed — protest surveillance and ethnic-slur search terms

EFF analyzed more than 12 million Flock searches logged by 3,900+ agencies between December 2024 and October 2025. It identified 50+ federal, state and local agencies running hundreds of protest-related searches, with reasons logged as "protest," "no kings," "KINGS DAY PROTEST," "DxE Protest Suspect Vehicle," "ATL No Kings Protest." Named examples: Tulsa PD (38+ searches), Spokane County SO (3 searches, June 15), Beaumont PD, TX (6 searches, June 14), San Bernardino County SO (searches across 711 networks). Separately, EFF found 80+ agencies running hundreds of searches using anti-Romani slurs and stereotypes, including Grand Prairie PD, TX six times using Flock's Convoy feature. EFF also documented that a single abortion-related Texas query "probed 6,809 networks, accessing 83,345 cameras."

the only reason an officer is able to even search for a suspect at a protest is because ALPRs collected data on every single person who attended the protest.

— Electronic Frontier Foundation

The other side One named department said it does not use the system to investigate individuals exercising their First Amendment rights.

Source · EFF · read it

Wapello County, IA sheriff's SOP: "DO NOT MENTION ALPR USAGE"

A public-records request produced the sheriff's department's written Flock standard operating procedures, which instruct officers not to disclose ALPR use to vehicle occupants or in reports, and to substitute vague phrasing. The sheriff defended the practice as protecting investigative methods.

DO NOT MENTION ALPR USAGE TO THE OCCUPANTS OF THE VEHICLE. DO NOT MENTION ALPR USAGE IN YOUR REPORT OR COMPLAINT UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY.

— The sheriff's written procedure

The other side The sheriff defended the practice as protecting investigative methods.

Source · 404 Media · read it

Denver — mayor extended the contract below the council-approval threshold; auditor asked to review

Mayor Mike Johnston extended Denver's Flock contract for approximately $500,000 without council approval, keeping it below the threshold requiring council authorization. Nine council members wrote to City Auditor Timothy O'Brien alleging the administration circumvented council authority. Denver's Flock data was exposed to national searches, including by federal immigration agents, until April 2025; the reporting notes there is no evidence it was used in immigration cases.

We do not believe that the City and County of Denver should continue doing business with a company that has demonstrated such disregard for honesty and accountability.

— Council members' letter

The other side The mayor's office said the no-cost extension was within his authority, and one council member said nothing illegal had been done.

Source · Denverite · read it

University of Washington report: "front door," "back door," and "side door" federal access in Washington State

The UW Center for Human Rights documented three access paths: at least 8 Washington agencies explicitly enabled sharing with U.S. Border Patrol; Border Patrol ran thousands of searches on data from at least 10 additional agencies that had not authorized it (May–August 2025); and local agencies, including Yakima County Sheriff's Office, ran searches listing "ICE" as the reason. The Keep Washington Working Act (RCW 10.93.160) restricts local resources for civil immigration enforcement.

It is a local decision. Not my decision, and not Flock's decision.

— Flock's chief executive, quoted in the report

The other side Flock's position, quoted in the report: data-sharing is a local decision.

Source · UW Center for Human Rights (Jackson School) · read it

Virginia network searched ~3,000 times for immigration purposes in 12 months

A Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism analysis found Virginia's Flock network was searched nearly 3,000 times using terms such as "ICE," "ERO," "immigration," and "deportee" over a 12-month period, with roughly 90% of those searches originating from out-of-state agencies. Charlottesville and later Richmond cut off federal access after the reporting.

Once we got that information in Charlottesville, we shut our system out for everyone.

— Charlottesville Police Chief Michael Kochis

The other side Warren County said it stopped sharing after July 1. Charlottesville and Richmond cut off federal access after the reporting.

Source · VPM / Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism · read it

Court records contradicted the "missing person" explanation for the Texas search

EFF obtained the lead detective's affidavit and incident reports. The affidavit described a "death investigation" of a "non-viable fetus," said deputies collected photographic evidence from the woman's partner, and said deputies consulted prosecutors about charging the woman for "taking the pill to cause the abortion or miscarriage." Flock and Sheriff King had publicly described the search as a missing-persons/welfare matter.

Her family was worried that she was going to bleed to death, and we were trying to find her to get her to a hospital.

— Sheriff Adam King, before the records surfaced

The other side Flock and the sheriff had publicly described the search as a missing-persons matter.

Source · Electronic Frontier Foundation · read it

California Attorney General sued El Cajon over out-of-state ALPR sharing

AG Rob Bonta sued the City of El Cajon alleging it knowingly and repeatedly shared ALPR data with law enforcement agencies in 27 other states in violation of SB 34, which bars sharing ALPR data with federal and out-of-state agencies.

When information about Californians leaves the state, we no longer have any say over how it is used or shared.

— Attorney General Rob Bonta

The other side These are allegations in a pending civil action. El Cajon has contested the Attorney General's interpretation.

Source · California Office of the Attorney General · read it

Sixteen searches on a fellow deputy, every one logged as “suspicious”

A Kenosha County deputy made sixteen or seventeen off-duty Flock searches of his then-girlfriend’s plate — she was also a county deputy — logging each one as “suspicious.” He resigned in December 2025 and was charged in August 2026 with two counts of misconduct in public office, both felonies. He told investigators he was testing new features; texts show he wrote that running her plate made him look bad.

We filed two counts of misconduct in public office, which are both Class 'I' felonies.

— DA Xavier Solis

The other side He resigned in December 2025, before charges were filed in August 2026. The case has not been tried.

Source · KWTX · read it

Schmidt v. City of Norfolk — federal government intervenes on the city's side

The United States filed a statement of interest in the IJ-backed challenge to Norfolk's 176 Flock cameras, submitted by U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan, defending warrantless ALPR surveillance. The government's position is that no American can reasonably expect privacy on public roads. IJ also maintains a parallel federal case in San Jose.

These cameras collect massive amounts of data about ordinary people's movements, data that can be mined to reveal habits, patterns, and behaviors.

— The Institute for Justice

The other side The government's position is that no American can reasonably expect privacy on public roads.

Source · Institute for Justice · read it

Evanston — Flock reinstalled cameras after the city terminated; city issued a cease-and-desist

Evanston deactivated its 19 Flock cameras and terminated the contract, citing the Illinois Secretary of State audit and Flock's admission that it had not created distinct permissions for federal users. In the weeks that followed, Flock reinstalled stationary cameras around the city. Evanston issued a cease-and-desist on September 18 demanding removal. The final two cameras were removed in March 2026 following a reporter's inquiry.

The findings … combined with Flock's admission that it failed to establish distinct permissions and protocols … are deeply troubling.

— City of Evanston

The other side Flock says no basis for any allegation that it broke Illinois law has been shared with it.

Source · City of Evanston statement · read it

CBP had search access to more than 80,000 Flock cameras through an undisclosed pilot

Records from three police departments showed U.S. Customs and Border Protection regularly searched more than 80,000 Flock cameras through a pilot program. At least one department said it did not know it was sharing access with CBP. Flock had characterized federal arrangements as limited "one-to-one" pilots.

The other side Flock said it had paused all federal pilots. CBP did not respond.

Source · 404 Media · read it

State audit found plate data shared in violation of state law

An audit by the Illinois Secretary of State found that plate reader data had been shared in ways that violated the state's law restricting such sharing, including with federal agencies. A follow-up release identified a specific department that had shared data with federal border authorities.

Source · NPR Illinois; NBC Chicago, August–September 2025 · read it

Members of Congress opened an inquiry into the company's data practices

Following reporting on nationwide lookups through the vendor's networks, members of Congress demanded records from the company. Separately, two senators asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the company's cybersecurity practices. The company subsequently changed parts of its national lookup practices.

Source · 404 Media, August 8, 2025 · read it

Oak Park, Illinois — terminated over federal access conflicting with its sanctuary ordinance

Oak Park’s board terminated its Flock contract after learning federal immigration agents could access village plate data, which the village viewed as conflicting with its sanctuary ordinance.

This is what democracy looks like. So I do hope other communities will look at this conversation.

— Trustee Brian Straw

The other side Flock's CEO said the company communicated poorly and did not create distinct permissions and protocols in its system.

Source · Wednesday Journal (Oak Park) · read it

California agencies continued federal ALPR sharing after AG warnings

Reporting found agencies continued federally-labeled searches after receiving state warning letters: Riverside County Sheriff was warned in March 2025 for sharing with the FBI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service and continued FBI-related searches through May 2025; Sacramento County Sheriff, warned June 2024, continued searches labeled "DEA Assist" and "ATF" through June 2025; SFPD made over 100 searches of Oakland's system marked federally related; CHP ran an April search across 845 ALPR systems labeled "ICE case."

Somebody needs to be made an example of … Until somebody drops the hammer on them, I don't think they're going to change.

— Brian Hofer, Secure Justice

The other side Riverside County denied violating the statute. Oakland PD called the reporting misleading. Flock said it rolled out features to flag immigration-related searches.

Source · The San Francisco Standard · read it

Illinois data used in the Texas abortion search; 262 immigration-related lookups of one village's data

Mount Prospect's Flock data was accessed by Johnson County, Texas, in the abortion investigation. Reporting also found Mount Prospect data was accessed in 262 immigration-related matters in early 2025. An Illinois law effective 2024 bars sharing ALPR data with out-of-state agencies for immigration- or abortion-related enforcement. The Illinois Secretary of State opened an audit.

I am tremendously upset that some law enforcement agencies who agreed to follow Illinois law … conducted illegal searches.

— Mount Prospect Police Chief Michael Eterno

The other side Mount Prospect denies intentional wrongdoing and says it opted out of the national lookup feature.

Source · Chicago Sun-Times · read it

Austin PD internal audit: over 20% of ALPR searches lacked justification

An Austin Police Department audit of its Flock pilot found more than 20% of database searches lacked proper documentation or justification, in violation of department policy. The audit also found contract language permitting retention beyond council-mandated limits and potential sharing with outside agencies. The council did not renew; the contract ended at the end of June 2025.

Today's victory in Austin is a tribute to what happens when a coalition of activist groups come together in common cause.

— Kevin Welch, EFF-Austin

Source · Electronic Frontier Foundation · read it

A deputy searched more than 83,000 cameras nationwide for a woman who had an abortion

A sheriff's deputy ran a nationwide search covering more than 83,000 cameras to locate a woman who had a self-managed abortion, including cameras in states where abortion is legal. The sheriff initially said the search was made because the woman's family feared for her safety; records later obtained by a civil liberties organisation described the case differently.

You have this extraterritorial reach into other states, and Flock has decided to create a technology that breaks through the barriers, where police in one state can investigate what is a human right in another state because it is a crime in another.

— Kate Bertash, Digital Defense Fund

Source · 404 Media, May 29, 2025 · read it

ICE obtained informal access to Flock's network through local police lookups

404 Media obtained Flock search logs showing more than 4,000 nationwide lookups by state and local police recorded with reasons including "immigration," "ICE," "ICE+ERO," and "ICE WARRANT." ICE had no direct contract with Flock at the time; access came through requests routed via local agencies.

all of the lookups that explicitly list 'immigration' as their reason were made after Trump was inaugurated.

— 404 Media, from the search logs

Source · 404 Media · read it

Flock built a people-search tool ("Nova") sourced in part from data breaches, then reversed course

404 Media obtained internal slides, Slack messages, and meeting audio showing Flock was building Nova, a tool linking plate reads to personal data drawn from people-search tools, data brokers, and data breaches, supporting 20 toggleable data sources. Internal Slack messages show employees raising ethics objections. Two weeks later Flock announced Nova would not use breached or stolen data.

I was pretty horrified to hear we use stolen data in our system.

— Employee Slack message

The other side Two weeks after the reporting, Flock announced Nova would not use breached or stolen data.

Source · 404 Media · read it

Eva Pizzarelli v. Town of Cumberland — $750,000 false-arrest suit (Rhode Island)

After a fleeing vehicle eluded a stop, an officer described the driver as a "white, middle-aged woman, with red hair." Police used Flock footage and Facebook searches to identify Eva Pizzarelli, who was arrested during an unrelated traffic stop and held over six hours. Charges were dismissed. She sued in U.S. District Court for false arrest, malicious prosecution and negligence, seeking $750,000. The town denies the claims and asserts qualified immunity.

Now that I see you in person, I am 1,000% sure it was you.

— The officer allegedly told her

The other side The town denies the claims and asserts qualified immunity. The allegations are unproven.

Source · North Carolina Lawyers Weekly · read it

Plate reads used to build a reason to search a car

Court records show deputies tracked a man’s vehicle on Flock cameras travelling between Wisconsin and Michigan, then coordinated a traffic stop on his return. The criminal complaint cited the travel pattern itself as grounds for suspicion.

The vehicle travels to Michigan frequently which is a known source State for Marijuana as it is legal there.

— The criminal complaint

The other side A bail-jumping charge was dismissed; he was convicted only of marijuana possession.

Source · 404 Media · read it

$275 million raised, roughly 120,000 cameras, about 5,000 agencies

Flock raised $275 million at a $7.5 billion valuation in a round led by Andreessen Horowitz, stating it had passed $300 million in annual recurring revenue, up 70% year over year. Its product line then included plate readers, gunshot detection, AI video, Drone as First Responder, the Nova search tool, and domestically manufactured drones. As of 2026 the company reports roughly 120,000 cameras and about 5,000 contracted agencies.

will allow us to accelerate our investment in building technology that makes a tangible difference in people’s lives

— Garrett Langley, Flock chief executive

Source · Flock Safety · read it

Elk Grove PD — first FAA waiver for citywide DFR at 400 feet using Flock Aerodome

Flock announced that Elk Grove Police received the first FAA waiver permitting Drone as First Responder operations up to 400 feet with coverage of the entire city, using Flock's Aerodome platform, flown beyond visual line of sight.

The other side This is the company's own announcement, and reads as vendor marketing.

Source · GlobeNewswire (Flock release) · read it

Norfolk Circuit Court suppressed warrantless Flock evidence in a criminal case

Judge Jamilah LeCruise suppressed evidence obtained from Flock cameras without a warrant in a firearm robbery prosecution, reasoning by analogy to GPS tracking and citing *United States v. Jones* (2012) and *Carpenter* (2018).

what we have is a dragnet over the entire city.

— Judge LeCruise

The other side The Commonwealth's Attorney disagreed, called the system a game changer, and planned to appeal. This is a single trial-court ruling, not binding precedent.

Source · Government Technology · read it

Forbes: unpermitted Flock installations across at least seven states

Forbes reported Flock installed cameras on public roadways without required state DOT permits. Florida DOT removed a camera from the John's Pass Bridge and in July 2023 required a compliance review of up to 842 cameras. South Carolina found over 200 unpermitted cameras since spring 2022 and the Transportation Secretary imposed a moratorium on new installations. IDOT identified at least 38 unpermitted cameras. TxDOT denied permits for 136 cameras placed behind guardrails or on traffic lights. In North Carolina a judge enjoined Flock staff from installing cameras while the company operated without a required alarm-system license.

It's getting to the point where a company is willing to break the law.

— South Carolina Rep. Todd Rutherford

The other side A Flock spokesperson said the company operates to the best of its abilities within the bounds of the law, has nearly 50 people dedicated to permitting, said jurisdictional boundaries are not always clear, and committed to retroactive permitting.

Source · Forbes · read it

City audit: only 8% of accepted alerts related to a criminal incident

The Office of Inspector General reviewed the city's plate reader programme. Of the alerts generated, 66% were accepted and the rest rejected. Misreads accounted for about 25% of all alerts.

Only 8% of all accepted hits are vehicles that are related to a criminal incident.

— Seattle Office of Inspector General

The other side The OIG also states it "is limited in assessing if the technology is used in a manner that impacts civil liberties or disadvantaged populations" for lack of deployment data.

Source · Seattle Office of Inspector General, 2024 · read it