{ "name": "Unsurveilled open data", "description": "What jurisdictions decided about automated license plate readers, what happened afterwards, and documented cases of harm. Every record carries the tier of sourcing behind it.", "source": "https://unsurveilled.org/data/", "licence": { "name": "CC BY 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "attribution": "Unsurveilled (unsurveilled.org)" }, "generated": "2026-08-15", "sourcingTiers": { "decisions": { "primary-document": "Confirmed against an official release, contract, agenda, or minutes.", "official-agency": "Confirmed by the agency or a government official in a public statement.", "news-reported": "Reported by established outlets and not denied; no primary document obtained.", "contested": "The agency or vendor disputes this characterization; both accounts are presented." }, "incidents": { "court-documented": "A filed complaint, published opinion, approved settlement, or criminal charge exists on a public docket.", "official-agency": "The agency or a government official has confirmed the facts publicly.", "news-reported": "Reported by established outlets and not denied; no primary document obtained.", "contested": "The agency or vendor disputes this characterization; both accounts are presented." } }, "counts": { "decisions": 42, "incidents": 5 }, "decisions": [ { "id": "chandler-az-2026-08-07", "url": "https://unsurveilled.org/decisions/chandler-az-2026-08-07/", "jurisdiction": "Chandler", "state": "Arizona", "decidedBy": "City of Chandler / Chandler Police Department (administrative non-renewal)", "date": "2026-08-07", "action": "ended", "vendor": "Flock Safety", "cameras": 40, "contractValue": "Renewal under consideration reported at up to $153,400", "summary": "Chandler announced it will discontinue its 40 fixed Flock Safety license plate readers and will not renew its service agreement, after a routine audit identified what the police chief described as potential misuse of the system by someone inside the department.", "drivers": [ "Routine internal audit flagged an unexplained anomaly in system use", "Sustained resident opposition that twice forced the renewal vote to be postponed", "Council concern over loss of local control once data leaves the jurisdiction", "Documented disparity between internal and external search volume" ], "outcome": "Cameras were deactivated and department access revoked immediately; the hardware remains Flock's property and physical removal was still pending as of August 11, 2026. Because declining to renew an expiring agreement was handled administratively, the City Council vote scheduled for August 13 became moot. Chandler is the largest Arizona city to end a Flock partnership. Local organizers have since begun pushing for a permanent ordinance to prevent the city from resuming the same surveillance under a different vendor.", "openQuestions": [ "The Flock service agreement, the March 2024 pilot authorization, and the May 2025 expansion staff report, to verify cost and term", "The written Chandler PD ALPR policy, including retention, audit procedure, and audit configuration", "The audit record and internal affairs file on the flagged anomaly — what the misuse was, and the outcome", "The full list of outside agencies that searched Chandler data, with stated search reasons, for the life of the program", "Written confirmation of the deactivation date and the physical removal date for each of the 40 units", "Whether any Chandler data already transferred to partner agencies survives the shutdown, and under what retention rule", "Whether the city intends to procure a replacement vendor" ], "tier": "primary-document", "sources": [ { "label": "City of Chandler news release: Chandler discontinues use of Flock's automated license plate readers", "url": "https://www.chandleraz.gov/news-center/chandler-discontinues-use-flocks-automated-license-plate-readers" }, { "label": "AZFamily: Chandler ends use of Flock license plate readers after audit finds anomaly", "url": "https://www.azfamily.com/2026/08/07/chandler-ends-use-flock-license-plate-readers-after-audit-finds-anomaly/" }, { "label": "KJZZ: Chandler police end Flock camera partnership after potential misuse", "url": "https://www.kjzz.org/politics/2026-08-07/chandler-police-end-flock-camera-partnership-after-potential-misuse" }, { "label": "ABC15: Your car is being tracked — here's who can access that data in Arizona", "url": "https://www.abc15.com/news/local-news/investigations/your-car-is-being-tracked-heres-who-can-access-that-data-in-arizona" } ] }, { "id": "pinal-county-az-2026-08-05", "url": "https://unsurveilled.org/decisions/pinal-county-az-2026-08-05/", "jurisdiction": "Pinal County", "state": "Arizona", "decidedBy": "Pinal County Sheriff's Office (Sheriff Ross Teeple)", "date": "2026-08-05", "action": "declined", "vendor": "Flock Safety", "cameras": 45, "contractValue": null, "summary": "The Pinal County Sheriff announced the office will not renew its Flock Safety contract when it expires at the end of September 2026, citing Fourth Amendment concerns. Roughly half the affected cameras sit inside San Tan Valley.", "drivers": [ "Sheriff cited Fourth Amendment concerns directly", "Announced within days of Chandler ending its own program" ], "outcome": "The contract was reported as expiring at the end of September 2026. As of August 11, 2026 we have not independently confirmed the removal timetable or whether any replacement system is contemplated.", "openQuestions": [ "The Flock service agreement and its exact expiration date", "The precise camera count and the location of each unit, particularly the San Tan Valley subset", "Whether the Sheriff's Office intends to procure a replacement ALPR system from another vendor", "The data-sharing configuration, and which outside agencies received Pinal County data", "Whether data already shared with partner agencies survives the contract's expiry", "How San Tan Valley's new town government intends to handle surveillance technology now that it is incorporated" ], "tier": "news-reported", "sources": [ { "label": "Coverage of the Pinal County Sheriff's non-renewal announcement", "url": "https://www.abc15.com/news/region-southeast-valley/" } ] }, { "id": "narragansett-ri-2026-08-03", "url": "https://unsurveilled.org/decisions/narragansett-ri-2026-08-03/", "jurisdiction": "Narragansett", "state": "RI", "decidedBy": "Town Council", "date": "2026-08-03", "action": "ended", "vendor": "Flock Safety", "cameras": 3, "contractValue": "$12,600 first year, $12,000 in subsequent years", "summary": "The Narragansett Town Council voted 5-0 by voice vote on August 3, 2026 to cancel the town's contract with Flock Safety and take its remaining cameras out of service immediately. The contract ran through September 2027 with automatic renewal and was paid from asset forfeiture funds rather than tax revenue. Three of the town's four cameras were still operational at the time of the vote, one having been stolen.", "drivers": [ "Privacy and mass surveillance objections from a majority of public speakers and councilors", "Absence of state regulation governing ALPR data sharing in Rhode Island", "Concerns about data shared with outside agencies without oversight", "Low local crime rate calling the program's necessity into question", "Contention that the original 2024 authorization was a one-year pilot that was never properly renewed" ], "outcome": "The three remaining cameras were taken out of service immediately following the vote. The town solicitor had not completed a financial review when the council voted; the early-termination exposure was estimated at roughly $12,600 for the final contract year plus additional penalties. The council acted over the objection of Police Chief Kyle Rekas, who supported the cameras. The ACLU of Rhode Island backed the cancellation.", "openQuestions": [ "The final early-termination cost once the town solicitor completed the financial review", "Whether the stolen camera was ever recovered or replaced" ], "tier": "news-reported", "sources": [ { "label": "UpriseRI — Narragansett Council cancels Flock Safety camera contract immediately", "url": "https://upriseri.com/article/narragansett-council-cancels-flock-safety-camera-contract-immediately/" }, { "label": "The Boston Globe — Narragansett council votes to end Flock surveillance camera program", "url": "https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/08/04/metro/narragansett-town-council-ends-flock-safety-contract-ri/" }, { "label": "WPRI — Narragansett to stop using automated license plate readers", "url": "https://www.wpri.com/news/local-news/south-county/narragansett-to-stop-using-automated-license-plate-readers/" } ] }, { "id": "ord-ne-2026-08-03", "url": "https://unsurveilled.org/decisions/ord-ne-2026-08-03/", "jurisdiction": "Ord", "state": "NE", "decidedBy": "Ord City Council", "date": "2026-08-03", "action": "ended", "vendor": "Flock Safety", "cameras": 2, "contractValue": null, "summary": "The Ord City Council voted unanimously, 5-0, to begin removing the two Flock Safety cameras within city limits, making Ord the first city in Nebraska to reject the technology outright. The cameras had been installed in late 2025 under a $49,000 grant that Region 26 — the 911 center and emergency management office serving Valley County and 19 other central Nebraska counties — entered into with the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency in August 2025; Valley County opted in for two cameras, both sited in Ord. City Attorney Heather Sikyta was directed to write to Region 26 Emergency Management and the state to determine whether the cameras can come down immediately or what additional steps are required.", "drivers": [ "sustained resident pressure after the cameras were installed", "cameras funded and controlled through a regional grant rather than the city" ], "outcome": "Because the cameras were installed under a regional grant, removal is not solely Ord's to execute — the decision moved to the Valley County Board of Supervisors, which was scheduled to take up Ord's removal request plus residents' request to remove all cameras in Valley County. As of Aug 11, 2026 the county board's decision was pending. This is a clean illustration of grant-funded regional deployments outrunning municipal consent.", "openQuestions": [ "The Valley County Board of Supervisors' decision", "Whether Region 26 or NEMA can block removal of grant-funded cameras", "Whether the $49,000 grant must be repaid" ], "tier": "news-reported", "sources": [ { "label": "1011 NOW: City of Ord votes unanimously to remove its Flock cameras, a first in Nebraska (Aug 4, 2026)", "url": "https://www.1011now.com/2026/08/04/city-ord-votes-unanimously-remove-its-flock-cameras-first-nebraska/" }, { "label": "KNLV Radio: Ord City Council Votes to Remove Flock Cameras", "url": "https://www.knlvradio.com/2026/08/04/ord-city-council-votes-to-remove-flock-cameras/" }, { "label": "WOWT: City of Ord weighs public safety, privacy after vote to remove Flock cameras (Aug 10, 2026)", "url": "https://www.wowt.com/2026/08/10/what-cost-city-ord-weighs-public-safety-privacy-after-vote-remove-flock-cameras/" }, { "label": "Rural Radio KRVN: Ord City Council votes to remove FLOCK cameras", "url": "https://ruralradio.com/krvn/news/ord-city-council-votes-to-remove-flock-cameras/" } ] }, { "id": "harrisonburg-va-2026-07-28", "url": "https://unsurveilled.org/decisions/harrisonburg-va-2026-07-28/", "jurisdiction": "Harrisonburg", "state": "VA", "decidedBy": "City Council", "date": "2026-07-28", "action": "ended", "vendor": "Flock Group, Inc.", "cameras": 31, "contractValue": null, "summary": "The Harrisonburg City Council voted 4-0 on July 28, 2026 to adopt a resolution terminating the city's contract with Flock Group, Inc., directing staff to stop using the city's fixed automatic license plate recognition system within seven days and to work with Flock to remove the cameras. The resolution states that the council determined the benefits of the fixed camera system were outweighed by concerns about privacy, equity, data security and public trust. Harrisonburg Police Department had been using 31 Flock-owned ALPRs.", "drivers": [ "Council finding that privacy, equity, data security and public trust concerns outweighed the system's benefits", "Organizing by the group DeFlock Harrisonburg", "Council had pledged on July 14, 2026 to end the contract before formally voting" ], "outcome": "The system went dark on Friday, July 31, 2026, and City Manager Ande Banks said the city would remove cameras itself if removal took too long. The council also adopted a policy prohibiting mounted ALPRs without express council approval at a public meeting and funding through the annual budget process. The council did not adopt the broader ordinance DeFlock Harrisonburg sought, which would have guaranteed public comment before contracting with any new mass surveillance vendor.", "openQuestions": [ "Whether the 31 cameras were physically removed and on what date", "Whether any termination fee was paid to Flock Group, Inc.", "Whether a future council adopts the broader public-comment ordinance advocates sought" ], "tier": "news-reported", "sources": [ { "label": "WHSV — Harrisonburg City Council votes to end contract with Flock Safety", "url": "https://www.whsv.com/2026/07/29/harrisonburg-city-council-votes-end-contract-with-flock-safety/" }, { "label": "Daily News-Record — Harrisonburg City Council votes to cancel Flock camera contract", "url": "https://www.dnronline.com/news/public_safety/harrisonburg-city-council-votes-to-cancel-flock-camera-contract/article_e96103ea-5a30-5d31-9d9c-3198e8ae5c9e.html" }, { "label": "Rocktown Now — Harrisonburg City Council terminates contract with Flock Group, Inc.", "url": "https://rocktownnow.com/news/218812-harrisonburg-city-council-terminates-contract-with-flock-group-inc/" } ] }, { "id": "south-kingstown-ri-2026-07-27", "url": "https://unsurveilled.org/decisions/south-kingstown-ri-2026-07-27/", "jurisdiction": "South Kingstown", "state": "RI", "decidedBy": "Town Council", "date": "2026-07-27", "action": "ended", "vendor": "Flock Safety", "cameras": 6, "contractValue": null, "summary": "The South Kingstown Town Council voted unanimously on July 27, 2026 to terminate the town's contract with Flock Safety and remove its half-dozen automated license plate reader cameras. The town had awarded the contract on June 23, 2025, issued the purchase order July 8, 2025 and signed the agreement July 16-17, 2025; the one-year trial had only begun when the first camera was installed and validated on February 19, 2026.", "drivers": [ "Dozens of constituent complaints and residents attending the meeting to support cancellation", "Privacy concerns and potential misuse of camera data", "An ACLU of Rhode Island letter urging cancellation", "Councilors' unsatisfied questioning of a Flock Safety representative at the meeting" ], "outcome": "The cameras were ordered removed immediately and the town began working to secure a partial refund of the contract's remaining operational costs. South Kingstown's vote started an eleven-day cascade in Rhode Island: Narragansett terminated on August 3 and Glocester on August 6.", "openQuestions": [ "Whether the partial refund was obtained and in what amount", "Whether the cameras were physically removed and on what date" ], "tier": "news-reported", "sources": [ { "label": "ACLU of Rhode Island — South Kingstown Cancels Flock Safety Contract after Community Advocacy, ACLU Letter", "url": "https://www.riaclu.org/news/south-kingstown-cancels-flock-safety-contract-after-community-advocacy-aclu-letter/" }, { "label": "The Independent (RI) — SK Town Council votes to end Flock deal, take down cameras", "url": "https://www.independentri.com/news/article_b12efd9d-d884-448d-9410-d8c8a4ceb51a.html" }, { "label": "WPRI — South Kingstown to stop using automated license plate readers", "url": "https://www.wpri.com/news/local-news/south-county/south-kingstown-to-stop-using-automated-license-plate-readers/" } ] }, { "id": "monroe-county-in-2026-07-23", "url": "https://unsurveilled.org/decisions/monroe-county-in-2026-07-23/", "jurisdiction": "Monroe County", "state": "IN", "decidedBy": "Monroe County Board of Commissioners", "date": "2026-07-23", "action": "ended", "vendor": "Flock Safety", "cameras": 6, "contractValue": "$16,500 original 2021 agreement; $3,000 removal fee", "summary": "The Monroe County Board of Commissioners voted 2-0, with Commissioner Lee Jones absent, to terminate the county's Flock Safety contract and remove six license plate readers, accepting a $3,000 removal fee. The original 2021 agreement was $16,500. Commissioner Thomas cited data misuse — 'The way the data has been abused, and we've seen national stories about this, is terrible' — and Commissioner Madeira called the removal cost well spent. Sheriff Ruben Marté supported the termination, agreeing it aligned with the values of most Monroe County residents. Commissioners acknowledged the cameras had helped locate missing persons and investigate crimes but concluded national misuse reports outweighed those benefits.", "drivers": [ "national reporting on police misuse of Flock data", "resident pressure on local officials", "sheriff's concurrence" ], "outcome": "Monroe County followed the City of Bloomington, which sits inside the county and had let its own roughly $50,000 Flock contract expire on March 5, 2026 after Mayor Kerry Thomson declined to renew, citing privacy, transparency, and public trust following a Jan 30, 2026 protest at city hall that drew over 400 people. Indiana as a whole split: Fort Wayne's renewal failed 5-4 and remains unresolved, while South Bend (45 cameras) and Michigan City (60 cameras) retained or expanded theirs.", "openQuestions": [ "Whether the cameras have been physically removed", "Whether the sheriff's office retains access to any other agency's ALPR network" ], "tier": "news-reported", "sources": [ { "label": "B Square Bulletin: Monroe County commissioners vote to end Flock contract, remove six license plate cameras", "url": "https://bsquarebulletin.com/monroe-county-commissioners-vote-to-end-flock-contract-remove-six-license-plate-cameras/" }, { "label": "Indiana Public Media: Monroe County cancels contract with Flock Safety (July 26, 2026)", "url": "https://www.ipm.org/news/2026-07-26/monroe-county-cancels-contract-with-flock-safety" }, { "label": "Indiana Public Media: City of Bloomington won't renew contract with surveillance company Flock (Apr 16, 2026)", "url": "https://www.ipm.org/news/2026-04-16/city-of-bloomington-wont-review-contract-with-surveillance-company-flock" }, { "label": "Indiana Daily Student: City of Bloomington ends Flock contract, data sharing with Indiana law enforcement", "url": "https://www.idsnews.com/article/2026/04/city-of-bloomington-ends-flock-contract-data-sharing-with-indiana-law-enforcement" } ] }, { "id": "salem-ma-2026-07-23", "url": "https://unsurveilled.org/decisions/salem-ma-2026-07-23/", "jurisdiction": "Salem", "state": "MA", "decidedBy": "Mayor Dominick Pangallo", "date": "2026-07-23", "action": "declined", "vendor": "Flock Safety", "cameras": null, "contractValue": null, "summary": "Salem Mayor Dominick Pangallo announced on July 23, 2026 that the city would not renew its contract with Flock Safety, which had expired June 30, 2026. Pangallo said \"The city has determined that there are insufficient protections for the ALPR data generated by Flock's systems\" and that such data \"should be owned and used only in furtherance of Salem's public safety priorities.\" The Flock cameras had gone out of use on July 1.", "drivers": [ "Insufficient protections for ALPR data under Flock's terms", "An ACLU of Massachusetts-supported analysis of Flock audits found law enforcement searched Salem's data for reasons labeled \"immigration\" or \"ICE\" at least 230 times within two months in 2025", "City preference for owning its own ALPR data" ], "outcome": "Salem did not abandon license plate readers. New readers owned and operated by the city were installed at high-traffic locations, replacing the Flock system. This makes Salem, alongside Syracuse NY, one of the clearest cases where a Flock cancellation was a change of data custody rather than a retreat from ALPR surveillance.", "openQuestions": [ "What vendor supplies the city-owned replacement readers and what its data-sharing terms are", "Whether Salem adopted a written retention and query-audit policy for the replacement system" ], "tier": "official-agency", "sources": [ { "label": "City of Salem — Flock Safety Systems in the City of Salem (official newsflash)", "url": "https://www.salemma.gov/m/newsflash/Home/Detail/427" }, { "label": "Salem News — Salem ends Flock contract, will use new license plate readers", "url": "https://www.salemnews.com/news/local_news/salem-ends-flock-contract-will-use-new-license-plate-readers/article_ebc3660a-f539-428b-845b-b9009bd1c061.html" }, { "label": "Boston.com — Salem joins list of Mass. communities to reject surveillance company over data concerns", "url": "https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2026/07/26/salem-joins-list-of-mass-communities-to-reject-surveillance-company-over-data-concerns/" } ] }, { "id": "redmond-wa-2026-07-21", "url": "https://unsurveilled.org/decisions/redmond-wa-2026-07-21/", "jurisdiction": "Redmond", "state": "WA", "decidedBy": "Redmond City Council", "date": "2026-07-21", "action": "ended", "vendor": "Flock Safety", "cameras": 24, "contractValue": null, "summary": "The Redmond City Council voted 7-0 to terminate the city's contract with Flock Safety and end its automated license plate reader program, clearing the way to remove all 24 ALPRs in the city. The termination followed an eight-month suspension: the council recommended disabling the system on 2025-11-03, and voted 5-0 on 2025-11-12 to formally suspend the program pending further discussion.", "drivers": [ "Community concern about privacy and potential federal access to data", "Sustained resident pressure to scrap the system", "Concerns about ICE and immigration enforcement use", "Advocacy campaign that triggered same-day disabling in November 2025" ], "outcome": "Redmond is a rare case of a full deliberative arc ending in termination rather than reinstatement - suspension in November 2025, months of research and public process including sustained resident pressure, then a unanimous termination eight months later. The initial November suspension was unusually fast: hours after an advocacy letter calling for decommissioning, the council recommended disabling the system and the police chief cut off officer access the same day. Washington cities that paused Flock contracts, Redmond among them, subsequently faced questions about grant and taxpayer money already committed.", "openQuestions": [ "Contract value not established", "Whether the 24 cameras have been physically removed" ], "tier": "primary-document", "sources": [ { "label": "City of Redmond - Automated License Plate Reader Program official page", "url": "https://www.redmond.gov/2400/Automated-License-Plate-Reader-Program" }, { "label": "City of Redmond - Statement on Status of ALPR Cameras", "url": "https://www.redmond.gov/m/newsflash/home/detail/2833" }, { "label": "Redmond Moments - Redmond City Council Cleared to End Contract with Flock Safety", "url": "https://www.redmondmoments.com/articles/redmond-city-council-cleared-to-end-contract-with-flock-safety" }, { "label": "MyNorthwest - Redmond City Council votes to keep Flock cameras turned off", "url": "https://mynorthwest.com/local/redmond-city-council-flock-camera/4156863" } ] }, { "id": "elkton-va-2026-07-20", "url": "https://unsurveilled.org/decisions/elkton-va-2026-07-20/", "jurisdiction": "Elkton", "state": "VA", "decidedBy": "Town Council", "date": "2026-07-20", "action": "ended", "vendor": "Flock Safety", "cameras": null, "contractValue": null, "summary": "The Elkton Town Council voted 5-0 on the evening of Monday, July 20, 2026 to terminate the town's agreement with Flock Safety effective immediately. Councilman Aaron Napotnik moved to terminate and Councilwoman Virginia Fulginiti seconded; Councilwoman Rachel Michael was absent. The town's Flock contract had been signed in 2024 by the town manager and police department without council approval or public discussion.", "drivers": [ "Contract had been signed in 2024 without council vote or public notice", "Organizing by the group DeFlock the Valley, which brought roughly 75 residents to the meeting", "Objections to dragnet surveillance and to a private company profiting from residents' data", "Neighboring Harrisonburg had announced its own intent to exit Flock on July 14" ], "outcome": "The agreement was terminated effective immediately. Elkton's vote came eight days before Harrisonburg, less than 20 miles away, voted to end its own Flock contract, making the Shenandoah Valley one of the densest clusters of ALPR reversals in the country.", "openQuestions": [ "How many cameras Elkton had and what the contract was worth", "Whether an early-termination fee applied", "Whether Elkton adopted a policy requiring council approval for future surveillance procurement" ], "tier": "news-reported", "sources": [ { "label": "Augusta Free Press — Community group persuades Elkton Town Council to cut ties with Flock", "url": "https://augustafreepress.com/news/community-group-persuades-elkton-town-council-to-cut-ties-with-flock/" }, { "label": "WHSV — Police defend Flock cameras as Valley communities work to remove the technology", "url": "https://www.whsv.com/2026/07/21/police-defend-flock-cameras-valley-town-votes-remove-technology/" } ] }, { "id": "appleton-wi-2026-07-15", "url": "https://unsurveilled.org/decisions/appleton-wi-2026-07-15/", "jurisdiction": "Appleton", "state": "WI", "decidedBy": "Appleton Common Council", "date": "2026-07-15", "action": "ended", "vendor": "Flock Safety", "cameras": null, "contractValue": null, "summary": "The Appleton Common Council voted unanimously to approve a resolution terminating the city's contract with Flock Safety for license plate reader cameras. The council action followed Mayor Jake Woodford's May 6, 2026 announcement that Appleton would stop using Flock products — and, he said, automated license plate cameras from any vendor, not only Flock. Woodford said concerns about the integrity of Flock's underlying system had eroded the city's trust and that examples of illegitimate use of Flock data by personnel in other departments reinforced accountability concerns outside Appleton's control as a customer. The city stopped using the cameras June 30, 2026, covered them, notified Flock in June, and requested removal by July 31.", "drivers": [ "loss of trust in the integrity of Flock's system", "misuse of Flock data by personnel at other agencies, including a Menasha police officer charged with using Flock data to stalk someone", "community feedback" ], "outcome": "Cameras went dark June 30, 2026 and were physically covered before the council's formal termination vote. A companion resolution establishing public oversight and accountability standards for ALPRs and mass surveillance technologies was referred back to the safety and licensing committee, so Appleton's forward-looking policy framework was still unfinished as of mid-July 2026. Appleton is notable for extending the decision beyond one vendor to the technology category.", "openQuestions": [ "Camera count and contract value", "Whether the oversight-and-accountability resolution has since been adopted", "Whether Flock removed the cameras by the July 31 deadline" ], "tier": "official-agency", "sources": [ { "label": "WHBY: Appleton terminates contract for Flock cameras (July 16, 2026)", "url": "https://www.whby.com/2026/07/16/appleton-terminates-contract-for-flock-cameras-audio/" }, { "label": "WBAY: Appleton City Council votes on truancy ordinance, Flock cameras", "url": "https://www.wbay.com/2026/07/16/appleton-city-council-votes-truancy-ordinance-flock-cameras/" }, { "label": "WBAY: City of Appleton to stop using Flock cameras (May 6, 2026)", "url": "https://www.wbay.com/2026/05/06/city-appleton-stop-using-flock-cameras/" }, { "label": "FOX 11: Appleton mayor says city will stop using Flock cameras", "url": "https://fox11online.com/news/local/appleton-flock-cameras-police-department-license-plate-tracking-mayor-jake-woodford-common-council" }, { "label": "NBC 26: Flock cameras go offline in Appleton", "url": "https://www.nbc26.com/appleton/flock-cameras-go-offline-in-appleton" } ] }, { "id": "cleveland-oh-2026-07-15", "url": "https://unsurveilled.org/decisions/cleveland-oh-2026-07-15/", "jurisdiction": "Cleveland", "state": "OH", "decidedBy": "Cleveland City Council", "date": "2026-07-15", "action": "renewed", "vendor": "Flock Safety", "cameras": 100, "contractValue": "$125,000 (six-month extension through Dec 29, 2026)", "summary": "Cleveland City Council voted 9-6 to approve an amended six-month, $125,000 extension of the city's Flock Safety contract covering 100 license plate reader cameras, running through Dec 29, 2026. Council shortened the term from one year to six months to press the mayor to find a new vendor faster, and attached substantial conditions: the Northeast Ohio Regional Fusion Center — a local-federal partnership managed by DHS — is cut off from Cleveland's Flock data; Flock is prohibited from sharing data with governments or third parties and faces fines if found to have sold collected data; access is limited to local law enforcement with warrants required for third-party requests; data retention is capped at 30 days; and police must stand up an online transparency portal and report to council quarterly. Voting yes: Council President Blaine Griffin, Michael Polensek, Kevin Conwell, Kevin Bishop, Richard Starr, Brian Kazy, Charles Slife, Joe Jones, Deborah Gray. Voting no: Jasmin Santana, Nikki Hudson, Tanmay Shah, Kris Harsh, Stephanie Howse-Jones, Austin Davis.", "drivers": [ "federal data-sharing and fusion center access concerns", "sustained council debate after the safety committee initially rejected the extension", "desire to force the administration toward a different vendor" ], "outcome": "The council's safety committee had rejected the extension in June 2026 before the full council reversed course in July with the added restrictions. Immigration-related searches had already been blocked in November 2025. This is one of the strongest examples of a large city keeping ALPRs while materially rewriting who may touch the data.", "openQuestions": [ "Whether the administration has begun a vendor search ahead of the Dec 29, 2026 expiration", "Whether the transparency portal and quarterly reports have been delivered", "Over 1,000 Flock cameras reportedly operate across Cuyahoga County; Cleveland's restrictions do not reach those" ], "tier": "news-reported", "sources": [ { "label": "Cleveland 19 News: Cleveland city council votes to continue Flock Safety camera contract (July 15, 2026)", "url": "https://www.cleveland19.com/2026/07/15/cleveland-city-council-vote-flock-camera-contract-extension/" }, { "label": "Signal Cleveland: Cleveland to keep Flock cameras, pause data center projects", "url": "https://signalcleveland.org/cleveland-to-keep-flock-cameras-pause-data-center-projects/" }, { "label": "Axios Cleveland: Cleveland's final vote on Flock", "url": "https://www.axios.com/local/cleveland/2026/07/15/cleveland-vote-flock-license-plate-cameras" }, { "label": "Axios Cleveland: Cleveland City Council committee declines to renew Flock contract (June 18, 2026)", "url": "https://www.axios.com/local/cleveland/2026/06/18/cleveland-council-flock-contract-renewal-vote" } ] }, { "id": "warren-mi-2026-07-14", "url": "https://unsurveilled.org/decisions/warren-mi-2026-07-14/", "jurisdiction": "Warren", "state": "MI", "decidedBy": "Warren City Council", "date": "2026-07-14", "action": "renewed", "vendor": "Flock Safety", "cameras": null, "contractValue": "$132,000 (second two-year term)", "summary": "The Warren City Council voted 4-3 to let the Warren Police Department extend its license plate reader contract for a second two-year period at $132,000. The vote was a re-vote: Councilwoman Melody Magee had asked to reconsider her June 2026 vote, when the extension passed 4-2. On the July 14 re-vote Magee, Angela Rogensues, and Henry Newnan voted against; Mindy Moore, Gary Boike, Dave Dwyer, and Jonathan Lafferty voted in favor. Warren has used Flock Safety since 2021.", "drivers": [ "police department request", "council majority support surviving a reconsideration motion" ], "outcome": "Renewed by one vote. Warren is the counterweight to the Metro Detroit cancellation cluster: while Clawson, Ferndale, Menominee, Milford, and Westland ended their Flock arrangements between Nov 2025 and July 2026, Warren — the region's largest of these cities — kept its program.", "openQuestions": [ "Camera count in Warren", "Whether any data-access conditions were attached to the extension" ], "tier": "news-reported", "sources": [ { "label": "Detroit News: After councilwoman reconsiders, Warren narrowly renews Flock contract (July 14, 2026)", "url": "https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/macomb-county/2026/07/14/after-councilwoman-reconsiders-warren-narrowly-renews-flock-contract/90912943007/" }, { "label": "C & G Newspapers: Warren renews Flock contract after councilwoman changes vote", "url": "https://www.candgnews.com/articles/government-news/warren-renews-flock-contract-after-councilwoman-changes-vote-2/" }, { "label": "GovTech: Detroit Area Cities Increasingly Parting Ways With Flock Safety", "url": "https://www.govtech.com/public-safety/detroit-area-cities-increasingly-parting-ways-with-flock-safety" } ] }, { "id": "huntington-wv-2026-07-13", "url": "https://unsurveilled.org/decisions/huntington-wv-2026-07-13/", "jurisdiction": "Huntington", "state": "WV", "decidedBy": "City Council", "date": "2026-07-13", "action": "adopted", "vendor": "Flock Safety", "cameras": null, "contractValue": "$2.1 million over five years", "summary": "The Huntington City Council voted 6-4 in a meeting beginning July 13, 2026 and running into the early hours of the next morning to adopt a resolution entering a five-year, $2.1 million contract with Flock Safety. The package includes more than 40 license plate readers, 17 live video cameras, vehicle fingerprint technology, two gunshot detection devices and two automatically dispatched drones. More than 50 residents spoke during public comment and all but one opposed the resolution.", "drivers": [ "Council majority cited crime-fighting capability", "Adopted over near-unanimous public opposition at the meeting" ], "outcome": "The ACLU of West Virginia, joined by the Haslam Law Firm and Glazer, Saad, Anderson, sued in Cabell County Circuit Court on behalf of resident Greg Jimison, arguing the city failed to follow its own code on private commercial use of city property including public notice and hearing requirements, and asking that the contract be declared void from the start. As of August 10, 2026 the contract had not advanced: it was to take effect September 1 but Council Chairman Mike Shockley said it would not proceed until ground rules were set. Mayor Patrick Farrell introduced an access-control and Fourth Amendment ordinance, saying \"We are rejecting, explicitly rejecting, mass surveillance,\" and Councilwoman Tia Rumbaugh introduced a competing ordinance.", "openQuestions": [ "Whether the Cabell County Circuit Court voids the contract on procedural grounds", "Whether the competing Farrell and Rumbaugh ordinances are merged and adopted, and whether the contract ever takes effect", "Whether any equipment was installed before the September 1 start date" ], "tier": "news-reported", "sources": [ { "label": "West Virginia Public Broadcasting — Huntington City Council Approves New Surveillance Program After Marathon Session", "url": "https://wvpublic.org/story/government/huntington-city-council-approves-new-surveillance-program-after-marathon-session/" }, { "label": "West Virginia Watch — Huntington City Council approves purchase of Flock cameras despite public opposition", "url": "https://westvirginiawatch.com/2026/07/14/huntington-city-council-approves-purchase-of-flock-cameras-despite-public-opposition/" }, { "label": "WV MetroNews — City of Huntington hit with lawsuit from ACLU, others over $2.1 million Flock Safety contract", "url": "https://wvmetronews.com/2026/07/16/city-of-huntington-hit-with-lawsuit-from-aclu-others-over-2-1-million-flock-safety-contract/" }, { "label": "WV MetroNews — City of Huntington figuring out next steps with $2.1 million Flock contract (Aug 10, 2026)", "url": "https://wvmetronews.com/2026/08/10/city-of-huntington-figuring-out-next-steps-with-2-1-million-flock-contract/" } ] }, { "id": "los-angeles-ca-2026-07-11", "url": "https://unsurveilled.org/decisions/los-angeles-ca-2026-07-11/", "jurisdiction": "Los Angeles", "state": "CA", "decidedBy": "Los Angeles Police Department (agency head)", "date": "2026-07-11", "action": "ended", "vendor": "Flock Safety", "cameras": null, "contractValue": null, "summary": "The Los Angeles Police Department allowed its three-year contract with Flock Safety to expire rather than renew it. LAPD Chief Information Officer Dean Gialamas cited serious concerns around civil liberties and civil rights, particularly privacy and control of the data collected by the cameras, and a dispute over who owns and controls that data. As the third-largest police department in the country, LAPD's exit was among the most significant losses in Flock's roughly 80,000-camera national footprint.", "drivers": [ "Civil liberties and privacy concerns over collected data", "Dispute over ownership and control of the data Flock collects", "Inspector general audit finding roughly one in three hot-list alerts were false", "161 car owners investigated over wrongly flagged vehicles in a two-month period" ], "outcome": "A 98-page Los Angeles city inspector general audit found Flock readers flagged vehicles as stolen at a false rate of roughly one in three: over a two-month window, LAPD investigated 161 car owners whose vehicles Flock had wrongly identified as stolen. This is one of the few US jurisdictions to produce an official accuracy audit of a deployed ALPR system, and the error rate - not privacy alone - became central to the story. Flock publicly called the non-renewal a surprise and said it expected to clear up misconceptions. LAPD indicated any future ALPR deployment would require updated privacy, transparency and accountability policies before a new contract, leaving renegotiation open rather than foreclosed.", "openQuestions": [ "Sources differ on the expiration date, reporting July 11 and July 12, 2026; July 11 was the Saturday referenced", "Camera count and contract value not disclosed", "Whether Flock cameras continued recording after expiration" ], "tier": "news-reported", "sources": [ { "label": "TechCrunch - LAPD lets contract with surveillance giant Flock expire, citing 'serious concerns'", "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/13/lapd-lets-contract-with-surveillance-giant-flock-expire-citing-serious-concerns-over-civil-liberties-and-privacy/" }, { "label": "The Record - LAPD sidelines relationship with license-plate reader company Flock Safety", "url": "https://therecord.media/lapd-halts-flock-safety-alpr-contract" }, { "label": "Tech Times - LAPD Cuts Off Flock Safety After Audit Finds One-in-Three Hot-List Alerts Were False", "url": "https://www.techtimes.com/articles/320800/20260717/lapd-cuts-off-flock-safety-after-audit-finds-one-three-hot-list-alerts-were-false.htm" }, { "label": "KTLA - Flock Safety says LAPD halting use of their license plate readers was a 'surprise'", "url": "https://ktla.com/news/local-news/flock-safety-says-lapd-halting-the-use-of-their-license-plate-readers-was-a-surprise/" } ] }, { "id": "windsor-ct-2026-07-06", "url": "https://unsurveilled.org/decisions/windsor-ct-2026-07-06/", "jurisdiction": "Windsor", "state": "CT", "decidedBy": "Town Council", "date": "2026-07-06", "action": "ended", "vendor": "Flock Safety", "cameras": 16, "contractValue": "$48,000 per year", "summary": "The Windsor Town Council voted 5-4 on July 6, 2026 against restoring the town's Flock Safety cameras, permanently ending the program and the town's contract. The 16 fixed cameras had already been switched off since February 18, 2026, when the council voted 8-1 to shut down the system while officials sought answers about who could access the data. Mayor Nuchette Black-Burke said Flock could not guarantee that federal law enforcement was not using the system to track residents.", "drivers": [ "Flock could not guarantee federal law enforcement was not accessing the data", "A FOIA request showed the system had been searched roughly 590,000 times over nine weeks", "System conflicted with the ALPR Data Usage and Security Policy Windsor adopted January 5, 2026, which limited sharing to Connecticut and nearby-state agencies" ], "outcome": "Windsor became the first Connecticut town to decide against renewing a Flock contract; the 16 cameras were slated for removal by fall 2026. Killingworth followed within about a week, with its Board of Selectmen declining to renew a four-camera contract. Mayor Black-Burke framed the decision as vendor-specific: \"This tool is important; the vendor is not what we want.\"", "openQuestions": [ "Whether Windsor incurred the roughly $8,000 early-termination penalty", "Whether the town procured an alternative ALPR system meeting its January 2026 data policy" ], "tier": "news-reported", "sources": [ { "label": "NBC Connecticut — 2 CT towns end contracts with automated license plate reader company Flock Safety", "url": "https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/two-towns-end-contracts-with-automated-license-plate-reader-company-flock-safety/3755508/" }, { "label": "Windsor Patch — Windsor Votes 8-1 To Shut Down Flock License Plate Reader Cameras", "url": "https://patch.com/connecticut/windsor/windsor-votes-8-1-shut-down-flock-license-plate-reader-cameras" }, { "label": "WTNH — Some Connecticut towns opting to turn off automated license plate reader cameras amid privacy concerns", "url": "https://www.wtnh.com/news/connecticut/hartford/some-connecticut-towns-opting-to-turn-off-automated-license-plate-reader-cameras-amid-privacy-concerns/" } ] }, { "id": "framingham-ma-2026-06-25", "url": "https://unsurveilled.org/decisions/framingham-ma-2026-06-25/", "jurisdiction": "Framingham", "state": "MA", "decidedBy": "Police Chief Lester Baker, in coordination with Mayor Charlie Sisitsky and the City Council Rules, Ordinances and Ethics Subcommittee", "date": "2026-06-25", "action": "declined", "vendor": "Flock Safety", "cameras": null, "contractValue": null, "summary": "The Framingham Police Department announced on June 25, 2026 that it would not renew its contract with Flock Safety, which was set to expire June 30, 2026. The decision was made in coordination with Mayor Charlie Sisitsky and the City Council Rules, Ordinances and Ethics Subcommittee, following months of resident opposition expressed through public meetings, letters and council testimony beginning in February 2026.", "drivers": [ "Sustained resident organizing from February 2026 onward", "Insufficient oversight mechanisms over ALPR data", "Flock's participation in data-sharing networks accessible to federal immigration authorities", "Objections that the system enabled mass surveillance of residents' movements" ], "outcome": "The Flock system was shut off June 30, 2026, cameras were decommissioned and Flock scheduled removal work orders. The City Council took up a proposed 'Trust in Local Enforcement' ordinance on June 30 to set rules for any future ALPR technology, and the police department said it would respect that ordinance-development process including public input.", "openQuestions": [ "Whether the 'Trust in Local Enforcement' ordinance was ultimately adopted and what it requires", "Whether all cameras were physically removed and on what date" ], "tier": "official-agency", "sources": [ { "label": "Boston.com — Framingham police will not renew Flock Safety contract after months of resident opposition", "url": "https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2026/06/25/framingham-police-will-not-renew-flock-safety-contract-after-months-of-resident-opposition/" }, { "label": "The Frame (Access Framingham) — After Flock Contract's Ending, Framingham Officials Look to Enact Tough License Plate Reader Regulations", "url": "https://www.accessfram.tv/article/after-flock-contracts-ending-framingham-officials-look-to-enact-tough-license-plate-reader-regulations" } ] }, { "id": "berkeley-ca-2026-05-07", "url": "https://unsurveilled.org/decisions/berkeley-ca-2026-05-07/", "jurisdiction": "Berkeley", "state": "CA", "decidedBy": "Berkeley City Council", "date": "2026-05-07", "action": "renewed", "vendor": "Flock Safety", "cameras": null, "contractValue": "$200,000 (12-month extension)", "summary": "At a special meeting, the Berkeley City Council voted 5-4 to approve a 12-month, $200,000 extension of its Flock Safety ALPR contract, then voted 8-1 to reject a proposed expansion that would have added fixed cameras, community video streams, first-responder drones and criminal investigations software. The expansion contract could have totaled roughly $2 million. About 100 public commenters opposed both the renewal and the expansion.", "drivers": [ "Conflict with Berkeley's sanctuary city ordinance", "Risk of federal agency access to residents' data", "Cost of new surveillance infrastructure during a budget deficit", "Flock's outsourcing of review labor to low-paid workers in the Philippines", "Roughly 100 public commenters opposed" ], "outcome": "Berkeley is a counter-example to the regional cancellation trend: it kept ALPR while refusing to grow the surveillance stack around it. After the meeting the council referred future surveillance technology expansions to the city manager for a competitive bidding process, opening the door to vendors other than Flock. Opponents grounded their case in Berkeley's sanctuary city ordinance and in Flock's outsourcing of labor to low-paid contractors in the Philippines - an argument largely absent from other jurisdictions' debates.", "openQuestions": [], "tier": "news-reported", "sources": [ { "label": "Berkeleyside - Flock plate readers to stay; Berkeley nixes surveillance expansion", "url": "https://www.berkeleyside.org/2026/05/08/flock-safety-berkeley-surveillance-cameras-drones-nova-community-video-streams" }, { "label": "KQED - Berkeley Extends Surveillance Contract With Flock Safety but Rejects Major Expansion", "url": "https://www.kqed.org/news/12082887/berkeley-extends-surveillance-contract-with-flock-safety-but-rejects-major-expansion" }, { "label": "Daily Californian - Berkeley City Council renews Flock license plate readers without surveillance expansion", "url": "https://www.dailycal.org/news/city/berkeley-city-council-renews-flock-license-plate-readers-without-surveillance-expansion-after-tumultuous-6-hour/article_19242150-4ca3-40b0-ac67-d5da1022d0dc.html" } ] }, { "id": "el-cerrito-ca-2026-05-06", "url": "https://unsurveilled.org/decisions/el-cerrito-ca-2026-05-06/", "jurisdiction": "El Cerrito", "state": "CA", "decidedBy": "El Cerrito City Council", "date": "2026-05-06", "action": "declined", "vendor": "Flock Safety", "cameras": 40, "contractValue": null, "summary": "After more than an hour of largely opposed public comment, the El Cerrito City Council voted 3-2 in the early hours of Wednesday 2026-05-06 not to renew its Flock Safety contract, ending the program after nearly three years. Mayor Pro Tem Rebecca Saltzman, Lisa Motoyama and William Ktsanes voted to end the agreement; Mayor Gabriel Quinto and Carolyn Wysinger voted to renew, citing crime concerns. The vote followed disclosure that federal agencies had accessed data from the city's 40 cameras without police knowledge.", "drivers": [ "Unauthorized federal agency access to the city's camera data without police knowledge", "Inability to control downstream use of city data", "Dissatisfaction with the vendor's contract negotiations", "Sustained public comment in opposition" ], "outcome": "All 40 cameras went dark on 2026-06-07 and physical removal began in late July 2026, running into mid-August. El Cerrito was the first Contra Costa County jurisdiction to drop Flock. Its decision stands in direct contrast to neighboring Richmond, which in March 2026 voted to reactivate its own Flock system - two adjacent cities reaching opposite conclusions on the same vendor within eight weeks.", "openQuestions": [ "Contract value not established" ], "tier": "news-reported", "sources": [ { "label": "CC Pulse - El Cerrito Drops Flock Surveillance Over Data Concerns", "url": "https://ccpulse.org/2026/05/07/el-cerrito-becomes-first-in-county-to-drop-flock-after-unauthorized-searches/" }, { "label": "Contra Costa News - El Cerrito Votes to End Flock Contract, Cameras Go Dark June 7", "url": "https://contracosta.news/2026/05/06/el-cerrito-votes-to-end-flock-contract-cameras-go-dark-june-7/" }, { "label": "KALW - El Cerrito begins removing Flock cameras", "url": "https://www.kalw.org/bay-area-news/2026-07-31/el-cerrito-begins-removing-flock-cameras" } ] }, { "id": "tompkins-county-ny-2026-04-14", "url": "https://unsurveilled.org/decisions/tompkins-county-ny-2026-04-14/", "jurisdiction": "Tompkins County", "state": "NY", "decidedBy": "County Legislature", "date": "2026-04-14", "action": "ended", "vendor": "Flock Safety", "cameras": null, "contractValue": null, "summary": "The Tompkins County Legislature voted 12-1 on April 14, 2026 to terminate the county's contract with Flock Safety and remove both the license plate reader network and Flock gunshot detection devices. The vote came before a May 28 automatic renewal that would have extended the agreement two more years. The Tompkins County Sheriff's Office and Ithaca Police Department had contracted with Flock since 2023, funded through New York State's Gun Involved Violence Elimination (GIVE) initiative.", "drivers": [ "Contract faced an automatic two-year renewal on May 28 absent action", "Reports of camera data used to track undocumented immigrants and people seeking abortion care", "Mass surveillance and data privacy objections raised at repeated public meetings", "City of Ithaca had ended its own Flock contract five weeks earlier" ], "outcome": "The county terminated before the May 28 auto-renewal, ending Flock use by both the Sheriff's Office and Ithaca Police Department. Questions were subsequently raised about access to Flock's 'transparency' portal as the county's agencies exited the system.", "openQuestions": [ "Whether the New York State GIVE grant funding had to be returned or redirected", "Whether gunshot detection was replaced by another vendor or simply dropped" ], "tier": "news-reported", "sources": [ { "label": "WSKG — Tompkins County votes to end use of automatic license plate readers", "url": "https://www.wskg.org/regional-news/2026-04-21/tompkins-county-votes-to-end-use-of-automatic-license-plate-readers" }, { "label": "The Ithaca Voice — County legislature ends contract with Flock Safety", "url": "https://ithacavoice.org/2026/04/county-legislature-ends-contract-with-flock-safety/" }, { "label": "Ithaca Times — County Legislature Terminates Agreement With Flock Safety", "url": "https://www.ithaca.com/news/tompkins_county/county-legislature-terminates-agreement-with-flock-safety/article_2d808fd9-54e5-449d-aadd-561317125a19.html" } ] }, { "id": "dunwoody-ga-2026-04-13", "url": "https://unsurveilled.org/decisions/dunwoody-ga-2026-04-13/", "jurisdiction": "Dunwoody", "state": "GA", "decidedBy": "Dunwoody City Council", "date": "2026-04-13", "action": "renewed", "vendor": "Flock Safety", "cameras": null, "contractValue": null, "summary": "After delaying the item in February and March, the Dunwoody City Council unanimously approved a 12-month master services agreement with Flock Safety covering license plate readers, drones, and other tools feeding the police department's real-time crime center. City Attorney Jill Dunn negotiated contract terms city leaders described as 'guardrails': Dunwoody retains full ownership of captured data, Flock is barred from selling the data or using it for advertising, Dunwoody data will no longer train Flock's software or AI, the city can cut off data sharing with federal agencies, and a prior provision letting Flock use Dunwoody's camera network for product demonstrations was removed. The council separately approved a $15,000 Flock OS 911 system contract and a $200,000 Drone as First Responder agreement.", "drivers": [ "a public demonstration by researcher Benn Jordan showing the camera system could be compromised", "resident privacy backlash", "Flock's use of the city network for sales demonstrations" ], "outcome": "Approved with contract terms materially different from the prior agreement. Dunwoody is a useful case of a jurisdiction that kept its program but rewrote the vendor relationship rather than ending it. The ACLU of Georgia has separately opposed renewal of the Flock contract covering Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.", "openQuestions": [ "Total dollar value and term of the master services agreement itself", "Current Dunwoody ALPR camera count", "Whether the data-ownership and federal-cutoff provisions have been exercised" ], "tier": "news-reported", "sources": [ { "label": "Rough Draft Atlanta: Dunwoody City Council approves Flock Safety agreement (Apr 14, 2026)", "url": "https://roughdraftatlanta.com/2026/04/14/dunwoody-council-flock-agreement/" }, { "label": "Axios Atlanta: Dunwoody renews Flock Safety contract despite security and privacy concerns", "url": "https://www.axios.com/local/atlanta/2026/04/17/dunwoody-flock-license-plate-reader-agreement" }, { "label": "Appen Media: Dunwoody City Council approves controversial Flock contract", "url": "https://www.appenmedia.com/dunwoody/dunwoody-city-council-approves-controversial-flock-contract/article_73756da6-9b5f-467a-a18a-809b7897a9a4.html" }, { "label": "ACLU of Georgia: Opposes Renewal of Flock Safety Contract at Atlanta Airport", "url": "https://www.acluga.org/press-releases/aclu-of-georgia-opposes-renewal-of-flock-safety-contract-at-atlanta-airport/" } ] }, { "id": "seattle-wa-2026-03-31", "url": "https://unsurveilled.org/decisions/seattle-wa-2026-03-31/", "jurisdiction": "Seattle", "state": "WA", "decidedBy": "Seattle City Council", "date": "2026-03-31", "action": "restricted", "vendor": "Axon", "cameras": null, "contractValue": null, "summary": "The Seattle City Council voted unanimously to impose a 60-day pause on surveillance data collection where a technology can be used for civil immigration enforcement or threatens access to reproductive justice or gender-affirming care. In the same session the council unanimously passed a companion bill aligning the municipal code with state law limiting when Seattle Police officers may inquire into immigration status. The measures respond to Washington SB 6002, which bars ALPR use around schools, places of worship, food banks and courthouses.", "drivers": [ "Washington SB 6002 restrictions on ALPR near schools, places of worship, food banks and courthouses", "Concern about surveillance data used for civil immigration enforcement", "Protection of access to reproductive and gender-affirming care", "Expansion of Seattle's existing surveillance-data kill switch" ], "outcome": "Seattle is a useful control case: it does not contract with Flock at all, and the restriction instead applies to roughly 400 Axon automated license plate readers mounted on patrol cars plus six used by parking enforcement. SPD's crime and community-harm reduction director Lee Hunt said the department was working out how to geofence the protected locations so the in-car readers switch off and on as vehicles pass. That is a materially harder compliance problem than switching off fixed cameras, and it shows the sensitive-location restrictions now spreading through Western states landing on mobile ALPR rather than the fixed-camera vendor that drove the news cycle.", "openQuestions": [ "Whether the geofencing solution for in-car ALPR was successfully implemented", "Whether the 60-day pause was extended or expired" ], "tier": "news-reported", "sources": [ { "label": "South Seattle Emerald - Seattle City Council Passes Bills Limiting Immigration Inquiries, Surveillance Use", "url": "https://southseattleemerald.org/news/2026/04/01/seattle-city-council-passes-bills-limiting-immigration-inquiries-surveillance-use" }, { "label": "Capitol Hill Seattle - City Council proposal would expand Seattle's kill switch on police surveillance data", "url": "https://www.capitolhillseattle.com/2026/03/immigration-reproductive-health-and-gender-affirming-care-city-council-proposal-would-expand-seattles-kill-switch-on-police-surveillance-data/" }, { "label": "KUOW - Police pause license plate readers to comply with new Washington state restrictions", "url": "https://www.kuow.org/stories/police-pause-license-plate-readers-to-comply-with-new-wa-state-restrictions" } ] }, { "id": "syracuse-ny-2026-03-23", "url": "https://unsurveilled.org/decisions/syracuse-ny-2026-03-23/", "jurisdiction": "Syracuse", "state": "NY", "decidedBy": "Common Council", "date": "2026-03-23", "action": "ended", "vendor": "Flock Safety", "cameras": null, "contractValue": null, "summary": "The Syracuse Common Council voted unanimously on March 23, 2026 to revoke Flock Safety's privileges to place license plate readers in the city's right-of-way, finalizing the city's break with the vendor. The council had already approved a replacement contract with Axon Enterprise in February 2026. The decision followed reporting that Syracuse Police Department data was included in 175 CBP-related searches between March 10 and May 1 of the prior year after federal agents gained access through another agency's data-sharing agreement in Flock's national network.", "drivers": [ "Syracuse Police Department data swept into 175 CBP-related searches via Flock's national network", "City had no control over which outside agencies could query its data", "Council concern about federal enforcement acting without warrants" ], "outcome": "Flock physically removed its license plate readers roughly eight months after the process began. Syracuse did not abandon ALPR technology — it switched to Axon Enterprise, which itself holds federal contracts, and Flock retains 'anonymized' Syracuse data under its terms even after cancellation.", "openQuestions": [ "What data Flock retains post-termination and under what terms", "Whether the Axon contract carries stronger contractual limits on out-of-jurisdiction and federal queries than the Flock agreement did", "Flock has publicly disputed the immigration rationale, noting Axon holds DHS contracts" ], "tier": "news-reported", "sources": [ { "label": "Central Current — Syracuse lawmakers ice out Flock Safety in favor of company contracting with ICE", "url": "https://centralcurrent.org/syracuse-lawmakers-ice-out-flock-safety-in-favor-of-company-contracting-with-ice/" }, { "label": "Central Current — Federal immigration agents accessed Syracuse drivers' data through secret Flock Safety deal", "url": "https://centralcurrent.org/federal-immigration-agents-accessed-syracuse-drivers-data-through-secret-flock-safety-deal/" }, { "label": "Central Current — Flock Safety removes its license plate readers, finalizing eight-month breakup with City of Syracuse", "url": "https://centralcurrent.org/flock-safety-removes-its-license-plate-readers-finalizing-eight-month-breakup-with-city-of-syracuse/" } ] }, { "id": "richmond-ca-2026-03-17", "url": "https://unsurveilled.org/decisions/richmond-ca-2026-03-17/", "jurisdiction": "Richmond", "state": "CA", "decidedBy": "Richmond City Council", "date": "2026-03-17", "action": "renewed", "vendor": "Flock Safety", "cameras": null, "contractValue": null, "summary": "The Richmond City Council voted 4-3 to reactivate the city's Flock Safety ALPR system under a new short-term contract running through 2026-12-31. Councilmembers Jamelia Brown, Soheila Bana, Cesar Zepeda and Doria Robinson voted in favor; Richmond Progressive Alliance-aligned members Claudia Jimenez and Sue Wilson and Mayor Eduardo Martinez opposed. The cameras had been switched off in November 2025 after Police Chief Timothy Simmons discovered a National Search feature was active, allowing outside agencies to access Richmond data in conflict with the city's sanctuary policies.", "drivers": [ "Public safety and crime arguments from the council majority", "Residents rallied to demand the cameras stay on", "Newly negotiated data-sharing protections with the vendor", "Countervailing sanctuary-policy objections from the minority and the mayor" ], "outcome": "This is a reversal of a reversal - a jurisdiction that shut its ALPR system down and then voted it back on. The cameras came back online 2026-05-08 after the city negotiated new data-sharing protections with the vendor. A legal threat over the reactivation remained outstanding as of late April 2026. Richmond's trajectory runs directly opposite to neighboring El Cerrito, which declined renewal weeks later; the two adjacent Contra Costa cities reached opposite conclusions on the same vendor within eight weeks.", "openQuestions": [ "Camera count and contract value not established", "Whether the threatened litigation was filed, and its outcome", "What happens at the 2026-12-31 contract expiry" ], "tier": "news-reported", "sources": [ { "label": "Richmond Standard - Richmond council votes 4-3 to restore Flock Safety cameras", "url": "https://richmondstandard.com/community/2026/03/18/richmond-council-votes-to-reactivate-flock-safety-cameras-under-short-term-contract/" }, { "label": "Richmondside - Richmond's Flock license plate readers will be turned back on through 2026", "url": "https://richmondside.org/2026/03/18/richmond-flock-cameras-license-plate-readers-on/" }, { "label": "Richmond Confidential - With legal threat looming, Richmond Flock camera saga may not be over yet", "url": "https://richmondconfidential.org/2026/04/30/with-legal-threat-looming-richmond-flock-camera-saga-may-not-be-over-yet/" } ] }, { "id": "saranac-lake-ny-2026-03-09", "url": "https://unsurveilled.org/decisions/saranac-lake-ny-2026-03-09/", "jurisdiction": "Saranac Lake", "state": "NY", "decidedBy": "Village Board of Trustees", "date": "2026-03-09", "action": "declined", "vendor": "Flock Safety", "cameras": null, "contractValue": "$241,500 state law enforcement technology grant (2024)", "summary": "The Saranac Lake Village Board of Trustees voted 4-1 on March 9, 2026 to cancel the village's contract with Flock Safety, halting activation of cameras that had already been installed. The board's resolution also requires that any future contract for surveillance technology receive board authorization. The cameras had been funded through a $241,500 state law enforcement technology grant awarded to the village in 2024.", "drivers": [ "Cameras were installed without public discussion or a specific board vote", "Flock's contracts with federal agencies and risk of federal access to village data", "Reported license plate reader error rates", "Residents' data-governance, cybersecurity and transparency objections" ], "outcome": "The installed cameras were never activated. The board imposed a standing requirement that future surveillance technology contracts receive board authorization, closing the procurement gap that let the cameras be installed in the first place.", "openQuestions": [ "Whether the $241,500 state grant had to be returned or reallocated", "Whether the physical camera hardware was removed and by whom" ], "tier": "news-reported", "sources": [ { "label": "WAMC — Flock cameras rejected by Saranac Lake village board", "url": "https://www.wamc.org/news/2026-03-10/flock-cameras-rejected-by-saranac-lake-village-board" }, { "label": "Adirondack Explorer — Saranac Lake scraps plan for Flock surveillance cameras after public backlash", "url": "https://www.adirondackexplorer.org/communities/government/saranac-lake-scraps-plan-for-flock-surveillance-cameras-after-public-backlash/" }, { "label": "Government Technology — Saranac Lake, N.Y., Reverses on License Plate Reader Pact", "url": "https://www.govtech.com/public-safety/saranac-lake-n-y-reverses-on-license-plate-reader-pact" } ] }, { "id": "ithaca-ny-2026-03-04", "url": "https://unsurveilled.org/decisions/ithaca-ny-2026-03-04/", "jurisdiction": "Ithaca", "state": "NY", "decidedBy": "Common Council", "date": "2026-03-04", "action": "ended", "vendor": "Flock Safety", "cameras": 22, "contractValue": null, "summary": "The Ithaca Common Council voted unanimously on March 4, 2026 to end the city's contract with Flock Safety. The resolution requires all Flock equipment to be disconnected and shut down within 14 days of enactment and physically removed as soon as practicable. Twenty-two license plate readers were operating inside city limits at the time of the vote.", "drivers": [ "Conflict with Ithaca's sanctuary city policy limiting cooperation with federal immigration enforcement", "Contract language letting Flock share data with third parties on a \"good faith belief\" without local authorization", "A camera positioned near St. James AME Zion Church raised religious-surveillance concerns", "Documented access to Flock's network by ICE and Border Patrol" ], "outcome": "Flock equipment was ordered shut down within 14 days and removed thereafter. The Tompkins County Legislature terminated its own separate Flock contract five weeks later, on April 14, 2026, ending ALPR use by both the city police and the county sheriff.", "openQuestions": [ "Whether Ithaca paid an early-termination fee and what it was", "What became of previously captured data retained by the vendor after termination" ], "tier": "news-reported", "sources": [ { "label": "Ithaca Times — Flock Safety Set to Exit Ithaca Following Common Council Vote", "url": "https://www.ithaca.com/news/ithaca/flock-safety-set-to-exit-ithaca-following-common-council-vote/article_a71585bc-3ee7-4015-9a75-f934ec3ada45.html" }, { "label": "WSKG — Ithaca Common Council votes to end contract with Flock Safety", "url": "https://www.wskg.org/regional-news/2026-03-04/ithaca-common-council-votes-to-end-contract-with-flock-safety" } ] }, { "id": "el-paso-tx-2026-03-03", "url": "https://unsurveilled.org/decisions/el-paso-tx-2026-03-03/", "jurisdiction": "El Paso", "state": "TX", "decidedBy": "El Paso City Council", "date": "2026-03-03", "action": "renewed", "vendor": "Flock Safety", "cameras": 150, "contractValue": null, "summary": "The El Paso City Council voted 6-2 against an agenda item placed by City Reps. Chris Canales and Lily Limon that would have directed city staff not to renew any existing contracts with Flock Group Inc., leaving the police department's grant-funded ALPR program in place. Canales and Limon were the only votes to end it. Limon and Canales both raised concerns about who can access the collected data, with Limon specifically warning it could reach federal immigration authorities. The city had installed roughly 150 Flock cameras citywide beginning in summer 2025.", "drivers": [ "council majority support for police program", "state grant funding", "opposing concerns about data access by federal immigration authorities" ], "outcome": "The contract was renewed. Local opposition organized under DeFlock El Paso continued campaigning after the vote.", "openQuestions": [ "Exact contract dollar value and the state grant program funding it", "Whether any data-access restrictions were attached alongside the renewal" ], "tier": "news-reported", "sources": [ { "label": "KTSM 9 News: Bid to end using automated license plate readers fails in 6-2 Council vote", "url": "https://www.ktsm.com/news/bid-to-end-using-automated-license-plate-readers-fails-in-6-2-council-vote/" }, { "label": "El Paso Matters: El Paso City Council may reconsider Flock Safety camera contract (Mar 2, 2026)", "url": "https://elpasomatters.org/2026/03/02/flock-safety-license-plate-reader-cameras-contract-el-paso-texas-city-council/" }, { "label": "El Paso Inc.: El Paso City Council votes to keep AI license plate readers", "url": "https://www.elpasoinc.com/news/local_news/el-paso-city-council-votes/article_3951ffd9-f068-4440-ba31-2c31f9a3833f.html" } ] }, { "id": "oxnard-ca-2026-02-27", "url": "https://unsurveilled.org/decisions/oxnard-ca-2026-02-27/", "jurisdiction": "Oxnard", "state": "CA", "decidedBy": "Oxnard Police Department (agency head)", "date": "2026-02-27", "action": "suspended", "vendor": "Flock Safety", "cameras": null, "contractValue": null, "summary": "The Oxnard Police Department announced it was suspending use of its Flock Safety automated license plate readers after determining that out-of-state and federal agencies had been able to query Oxnard data without the department's knowledge or approval. OPD stated it had disabled the National Lookup feature at the start of its deployment in December 2023, but that a vendor-enabled nationwide query capability overrode the department's California-only access setting.", "drivers": [ "Vendor-enabled nationwide query capability overriding the department's California-only setting", "Two nationwide queries by federal VA Police at Loma Linda in May 2025 that included Oxnard data", "California SB 34 prohibition on sharing ALPR data outside the state" ], "outcome": "OPD documented a concrete unauthorized federal access: in May 2025 the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Police Department at Loma Linda Medical Center ran two nationwide queries that swept in Oxnard data. The department also confirmed the wider pattern - between February and March 2025 multiple California agencies discovered their National Lookup feature had been switched on without their action. This is an agency-head suspension rather than a council vote, and Ventura County agencies tightened their own controls in response rather than terminating.", "openQuestions": [ "Camera count and contract value not established", "Whether the suspension was later made permanent or the contract resumed" ], "tier": "primary-document", "sources": [ { "label": "City of Oxnard - Oxnard Police Department Suspends Use of Flock Safety ALPRs (02/27/26)", "url": "https://www.oxnard.gov/pd-news/news-release-oxnard-police-department-suspends-use-of-flock-safety-automated-license-plate-readers-02-27-26" }, { "label": "Edhat - Oxnard police suspend Flock license-plate readers; Ventura agencies tighten controls", "url": "https://www.edhat.com/ventura/news/oxnard-police-suspend-flock-license-plate-readers-ventura-agencies-tighten-controls-after-out-of-state-access/" } ] }, { "id": "coralville-ia-2026-02-24", "url": "https://unsurveilled.org/decisions/coralville-ia-2026-02-24/", "jurisdiction": "Coralville", "state": "IA", "decidedBy": "Coralville City Council", "date": "2026-02-24", "action": "ended", "vendor": "Flock Safety", "cameras": 2, "contractValue": "$36,000 (two-year)", "summary": "The Coralville City Council voted 3-1 to terminate its two-year, $36,000 Flock Safety contract covering two automated license plate readers and to rescind the city's ALPR usage policy. Every resident who spoke during public comment before the vote supported cancellation. Council member Mike Knudson cited an unfulfilled promise to discuss the city's purchasing policy; Rich Vogelzang was the sole no vote, arguing other communities understand the value of the readers. City Administrator Kelly Hayworth said removal would happen 'within days.'", "drivers": [ "months of public outcry", "unanimous opposition at public comment", "concerns about how the purchase was made" ], "outcome": "The cameras were physically removed within days of the vote. Coralville was among the earlier Iowa cancellations, preceding the broader 2026 wave; neighboring Iowa jurisdictions moved the opposite direction, with Sioux City expanding and Urbandale instead limiting access to its data in April 2026.", "openQuestions": [ "Exact calendar date of the vote: reporting is datelined Feb 25, 2026 and describes a Tuesday meeting, but Feb 25, 2026 was a Wednesday, so the meeting may have been Tuesday Feb 24", "Whether the rescinded ALPR usage policy was replaced with anything" ], "tier": "news-reported", "sources": [ { "label": "WVIK (Quad Cities NPR): Coralville terminates Flock license plate reader contract after months of public outcry", "url": "https://www.wvik.org/news-from-iowa/2026-02-25/coralville-flock-automated-license-plate-readers" }, { "label": "KCRG: Coralville removes Flock cameras after council votes to end contract", "url": "https://www.kcrg.com/2026/02/25/coralville-removes-flock-cameras-after-council-votes-end-contract/" } ] }, { "id": "los-altos-hills-ca-2026-01-15", "url": "https://unsurveilled.org/decisions/los-altos-hills-ca-2026-01-15/", "jurisdiction": "Los Altos Hills", "state": "CA", "decidedBy": "Los Altos Hills Town Council", "date": "2026-01-15", "action": "ended", "vendor": "Flock Safety", "cameras": 31, "contractValue": "$93,000 per year", "summary": "The Los Altos Hills Town Council voted unanimously to terminate the town's contract with Flock Safety. The town's official ALPR page states that all Flock cameras in town went offline effective immediately following the vote. Councilmembers cited ICE's indirect access to ALPR data through network searches by other agencies, alongside doubts about effectiveness and rising cost.", "drivers": [ "Indirect ICE access to ALPR data via other agencies' network searches", "Councilmember assessment that burglary rates had not fallen because of Flock", "Ease of evasion using stolen or missing plates", "Rising sheriff monitoring and public safety contract costs" ], "outcome": "Cameras and poles were removed by Flock over the following weeks, and the council directed staff to seek a refund on the contract, which otherwise ran through 2026-06-30. Mayor Bhateja publicly questioned whether the cameras had reduced burglaries at all, noting offenders used stolen or missing plates to evade them - a rare instance of a jurisdiction stating on the record that the technology underperformed, rather than citing privacy alone. Six weeks later the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors separately cut ties with Flock, ending the sheriff's ALPR service to the town as well.", "openQuestions": [ "Whether Flock granted any refund" ], "tier": "primary-document", "sources": [ { "label": "Town of Los Altos Hills - Automatic License Plate Readers (ALPR) official page", "url": "https://www.losaltoshills.ca.gov/455/Automatic-License-Plate-Readers-ALPR" }, { "label": "Los Altos Town Crier - Los Altos Hills to remove ALPR cameras", "url": "https://www.losaltosonline.com/news/los-altos-hills-to-remove-alpr-cameras/article_59f90aa8-14c1-4309-9f7f-12d16c649d9e.html" } ] }, { "id": "santa-cruz-ca-2026-01-13", "url": "https://unsurveilled.org/decisions/santa-cruz-ca-2026-01-13/", "jurisdiction": "Santa Cruz", "state": "CA", "decidedBy": "Santa Cruz City Council", "date": "2026-01-13", "action": "ended", "vendor": "Flock Safety", "cameras": null, "contractValue": null, "summary": "The Santa Cruz City Council voted 6-1 to terminate the city's contract with Flock Safety, becoming the first California city to end a Flock ALPR contract. City records showed state agencies accessed Santa Cruz camera data roughly 4,000 times between June and October 2025 on behalf of federal law enforcement, including ICE. Councilmember Sonja Brunner cast the sole dissenting vote.", "drivers": [ "Roughly 4,000 accesses of city data by state agencies on behalf of federal law enforcement, including ICE", "Alleged violation of California SB 34 barring out-of-state ALPR data sharing", "Mayor Fred Keeley's stated view that civil liberties risk exceeded the product's benefit" ], "outcome": "The contract, signed in 2024 and originally set to expire 2026-03-27, was ended early under a 30-day termination clause, making 2026-02-12 the earliest effective date. Santa Cruz's public records disclosure became a catalyst well beyond the city: Santa Cruz Local's reporting on dozens of California agencies sharing data with federal authorities was cited in subsequent cancellation debates in other Bay Area jurisdictions.", "openQuestions": [ "Camera count and contract value not established", "Whether cameras were physically removed, and on what date, not confirmed" ], "tier": "news-reported", "sources": [ { "label": "Santa Cruz Local - Santa Cruz leaders vote to terminate contract with Flock", "url": "https://santacruzlocal.org/2026/01/13/santa-cruz-leaders-vote-to-terminate-contract-with-flock/" }, { "label": "KQED - Santa Cruz the First in California to Terminate Its Contract With Flock Safety", "url": "https://www.kqed.org/news/12069705/santa-cruz-the-first-in-california-to-terminate-its-contract-with-flock-safety" }, { "label": "Santa Cruz Local - Dozens of California agencies shared license plate data with feds", "url": "https://santacruzlocal.org/2025/12/09/dozens-of-california-agencies-shared-license-plate-data-with-feds-santa-cruz-records-show/" } ] }, { "id": "bend-or-2026-01-07", "url": "https://unsurveilled.org/decisions/bend-or-2026-01-07/", "jurisdiction": "Bend", "state": "OR", "decidedBy": "Bend City Council", "date": "2026-01-07", "action": "ended", "vendor": "Flock Safety", "cameras": 4, "contractValue": "Approximately $20,000 per year (grant-funded)", "summary": "The Bend City Council voted to switch off the city's four Flock Safety license plate reader cameras and not renew the annual contract, ending a pilot program roughly five months early. The council cited data security concerns. Residents raised objections about continuous data collection on law-abiding drivers, retention periods, who can access the data, and the risk of misuse or breach.", "drivers": [ "Data security concerns raised by the council", "Resident fears of mass surveillance and continuous collection on uninvolved drivers", "Uncertainty about retention, access and breach risk", "Regional momentum from Eugene, Springfield and Woodburn cancellations" ], "outcome": "Bend illustrates the substitution pattern that pure cancellation counts miss: after de-Flocking, city officials began circling a new surveillance camera vendor with no plans for public input, according to local reporting. The cancellation was part of a rapid Oregon cascade - Eugene, Springfield, Woodburn and Skamania County in Washington had all turned off Flock cameras shortly before - which fed directly into Oregon SB 1516, signed by Governor Tina Kotek on 2026-03-31.", "openQuestions": [ "Council vote count not established", "Which replacement vendor Bend selected, and whether any public process occurred" ], "tier": "news-reported", "sources": [ { "label": "OPB - Bend is the latest Oregon city to turn off Flock cameras", "url": "https://www.opb.org/article/2026/01/08/bend-flock-cameras-ai-license-plate-camera-law-enforcement/" }, { "label": "KLCC - Bend is the latest Oregon city to turn off Flock cameras", "url": "https://www.klcc.org/crime-law-justice/2026-01-09/bend-is-the-latest-oregon-city-to-turn-off-flock-cameras" }, { "label": "The Source Weekly - Since 'de-Flocking,' Bend Officials Circle a New Vendor for Surveillance Cameras", "url": "https://www.bendsource.com/news/localnews/since-de-flocking-bend-officials-circle-a-new-vendor-for-surveillance-cameras-with-no-plans-for-public-input/" }, { "label": "KTVZ - City of Bend turns off, will uninstall Flock license-plate reader cameras", "url": "https://ktvz.com/news/bend/2026/01/08/update-city-of-bend-turns-off-will-uninstall-flock-license-plate-reader-cameras-amid-security-concerns/" } ] }, { "id": "tempe-az-2026-pilot", "url": "https://unsurveilled.org/decisions/tempe-az-2026-pilot/", "jurisdiction": "Tempe", "state": "Arizona", "decidedBy": "Tempe City Council", "date": "2026-01-01", "action": "adopted", "vendor": "Flock Safety", "cameras": null, "contractValue": null, "summary": "The Tempe City Council unanimously approved a no-cost 60-day pilot of Flock Safety license plate readers. Tempe carries the densest concentration of mapped readers in the East Valley.", "drivers": [ "Offered as a no-cost trial, which lowers the procurement threshold for approval" ], "outcome": "Not yet established. We have not confirmed whether the pilot converted into a paid contract, what the council was told at its conclusion, or how many cameras were installed. This is an open item, not a finished story.", "openQuestions": [ "The exact council date and vote approving the pilot, with the agenda item and staff report", "The number of cameras installed and their locations", "Whether the pilot converted to a paid contract, at what cost, and on what term", "What outcome data the department presented to Council at the pilot's conclusion", "The retention period and data-sharing configuration used during the pilot", "Whether a no-cost pilot bypassed the procurement review a paid contract would have required" ], "tier": "news-reported", "sources": [ { "label": "Tempe City Council agendas and minutes", "url": "https://www.tempe.gov/government/city-council" } ] }, { "id": "eugene-or-2025-12-05", "url": "https://unsurveilled.org/decisions/eugene-or-2025-12-05/", "jurisdiction": "Eugene", "state": "OR", "decidedBy": "Eugene City Manager Sarah Medary and Police Chief Chris Skinner", "date": "2025-12-05", "action": "ended", "vendor": "Flock Safety", "cameras": 57, "contractValue": "$391,264 (grant-funded)", "summary": "The City of Eugene and the Eugene Police Department announced immediate termination of the city's Flock Safety contract covering 57 license plate reader cameras. EPD said it had identified vulnerabilities and limitations in the Flock system that did not meet the standards of the department or the community. City Manager Sarah Medary described it as a joint call with Chief Chris Skinner that ultimately came down to trust.", "drivers": [ "Flock activating a camera during the city's ordered pause", "Identified vulnerabilities and limitations in the Flock system", "Loss of community and departmental trust in the vendor", "Council's 8-0 vote on 2025-10-08 recommending a pause", "Fear of federal misuse of the data" ], "outcome": "The proximate trigger was a vendor action, not a policy dispute: the police chief said Flock activated a camera during the city's ordered pause. Eugene's council had voted 8-0 on 2025-10-08 to recommend pausing use, and the city had already opted out of Flock's nationwide lookup feature earlier in 2025. When Flock said it would not begin removing hardware until 2026-01-26, Eugene sent its own staff instead - city crews removed 55 of the 57 cameras by 2025-12-19 and the last two the following week. Springfield announced the end of its Flock program the same day. The Eugene and Springfield controversies directly fed Oregon SB 1516, signed 2026-03-31, and Eugene's council subsequently moved to develop a citywide surveillance technology policy.", "openQuestions": [], "tier": "official-agency", "sources": [ { "label": "KLCC - Eugene and Springfield both announce end of Flock camera usage", "url": "https://www.klcc.org/breaking/2025-12-05/eugene-and-springfield-both-announce-end-of-flock-camera-usage" }, { "label": "Lookout Eugene-Springfield - Flock activated camera during 'pause,' chief says, pushing city to axe contract", "url": "https://lookouteugene-springfield.com/story/latest-news/2025/12/09/flock-activated-camera-during-pause-chief-says-pushing-city-to-axe-contract/" }, { "label": "OPB - Eugene and Springfield both announce end of Flock camera usage", "url": "https://www.opb.org/article/2025/12/06/eugene-springfield-end-flock-cameras/" }, { "label": "Lookout Eugene-Springfield - Timeline: The brief, troubled history of Flock cameras in Eugene, Springfield", "url": "https://lookouteugene-springfield.com/story/justice/2025/12/16/timeline-the-brief-troubled-history-of-flock-cameras-in-eugene-springfield/" } ] }, { "id": "olympia-wa-2025-12-03", "url": "https://unsurveilled.org/decisions/olympia-wa-2025-12-03/", "jurisdiction": "Olympia", "state": "WA", "decidedBy": "Olympia City Council", "date": "2025-12-03", "action": "suspended", "vendor": "Flock Safety", "cameras": 15, "contractValue": null, "summary": "The Olympia City Council voted to temporarily suspend the city's Flock Safety contract and halt all operations of its automated license plate reader network, on the recommendation of Interim Police Chief Shelby Parker. The action followed weeks of growing public pressure triggered by a federal immigration arrest in the city. The council directed that the city's 15 active cameras be rendered functionless using protective hoods.", "drivers": [ "A federal immigration arrest in the city that triggered public outcry", "Risk to Olympia's sanctuary city status", "Interim Police Chief Shelby Parker's recommendation citing community trust", "Reassessment of privacy and data access risk" ], "outcome": "By the morning of 2025-12-03 all 15 cameras had been physically hooded. The council acknowledged a governance limit that recurs across this dataset: Flock owns and operates the hardware, so a city cannot remove its own cameras - Olympia could only obscure the lenses and disable collection until the vendor agreed to uninstall. The cameras were subsequently uninstalled in December 2025. The chief framed the suspension around community trust and Olympia's sanctuary city status rather than a legal violation.", "openQuestions": [ "Council vote count not established", "Contract value not established", "Whether the suspension was later converted to a formal termination" ], "tier": "official-agency", "sources": [ { "label": "City of Olympia - Flock Safety Cameras official page", "url": "https://www.olympiawa.gov/services/police_department/flock.php" }, { "label": "The JOLT News - Olympia to remove Flock cameras amid federal data misuse concerns", "url": "https://www.thejoltnews.com/stories/olympia-to-remove-flock-cameras-amid-federal-data-misuse-concerns,27268" }, { "label": "KING 5 - City of Olympia to put 'hoods' over Flock cameras before ultimate removal", "url": "https://www.king5.com/article/news/community/facing-race/washington-immigration/olympia-hoods-flock-cameras/281-ff1c9bdf-540f-4591-8d41-3eee79796b8e" } ] }, { "id": "anchorage-ak-2025-09-23", "url": "https://unsurveilled.org/decisions/anchorage-ak-2025-09-23/", "jurisdiction": "Anchorage", "state": "AK", "decidedBy": "Anchorage Assembly", "date": "2025-09-23", "action": "adopted", "vendor": "Axon Enterprise", "cameras": null, "contractValue": "$11.8 million over five years", "summary": "The Anchorage Assembly approved a five-year, $11.8 million technology contract with Axon Enterprise for the Anchorage Police Department. Automated license plate readers were a new capability added under the contract, to be run through existing in-car dash-mounted cameras, alongside live streaming from up to 750 cameras, first-responder drones, real-time body cameras, and stun guns. Assembly Chair Christopher Constant cast the only dissenting vote.", "drivers": [ "Bundling of ALPR into a broader Axon body camera, drone and video procurement", "APD interest in ALPR dating to 2023 public safety committee discussions", "ACLU of Alaska request to table for public input, which the Assembly declined", "Assembly Chair Constant's privacy objection and view that the vote was rushed" ], "outcome": "This is an adoption running against the regional trend, and it shows how ALPR enters a jurisdiction without a standalone ALPR vote: the capability was bundled inside a broad police technology procurement rather than debated on its own. The ACLU of Alaska formally asked the Assembly to table the decision for additional public input and clearer information about the guardrails police would apply, and was unsuccessful. Constant said he felt the vote was rushed given privacy concerns, but after subsequently working out how police would use the technologies he said in an interview he had become more confident the department would prioritize privacy. Anchorage Police had been publicly exploring ALPR since at least October 2023.", "openQuestions": [ "Full Assembly vote count not established beyond the single dissent", "Number of ALPR-equipped vehicles and whether deployment has begun", "Whether APD adopted written ALPR guardrails, and their content" ], "tier": "news-reported", "sources": [ { "label": "Anchorage Daily News - Anchorage police unveil plans to use license plate readers, array of security cameras", "url": "https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/anchorage/2025/09/27/anchorage-police-unveil-plans-to-use-license-plate-readers-array-of-security-cameras/" }, { "label": "Alaska's News Source - Renewed Anchorage police contract includes live feed streaming of up to 750 cameras", "url": "https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/2025/09/25/renewed-anchorage-police-contract-includes-live-feed-streaming-up-750-cameras-first-responder-drones-real-time-body-cameras/" }, { "label": "Your Alaska Link - Anchorage Police Department will have new tech after Assembly approves contract", "url": "https://www.youralaskalink.com/news/local/anchorage-police-department-will-have-new-tech-after-assembly-approves-contract/article_25c13273-8316-4d06-b4ce-14ccb240051f.html" } ] }, { "id": "austin-tx-2025-06-03", "url": "https://unsurveilled.org/decisions/austin-tx-2025-06-03/", "jurisdiction": "Austin", "state": "TX", "decidedBy": "City Manager T.C. Broadnax", "date": "2025-06-03", "action": "ended", "vendor": "Flock Safety; Axon", "cameras": 540, "contractValue": null, "summary": "City Manager T.C. Broadnax withdrew the automated license plate reader renewal item from the Austin City Council agenda before it could be voted on, ending the Austin Police Department's ALPR program on June 30, 2025. The program had run 40 fixed Flock Safety cameras and roughly 500 vehicle-mounted Axon cameras. A city audit covering the March 2024 to March 2025 trial found the cameras scanned about 117 million vehicles, generated over 16,000 alerts, and led to 228 arrests, but also found that data could still be shared with outside agencies including immigration enforcement despite safeguards adopted in 2023.", "drivers": [ "city audit finding that data could reach outside and immigration enforcement agencies despite 2023 safeguards", "organized resident opposition", "concerns for immigrant families and political dissidents" ], "outcome": "Austin's council followed up on April 23, 2026 by passing the TRUST Act (Transparent and Responsible Use of Surveillance Technology), requiring departments to publish a justification report at least four weeks in advance and obtain council approval before deploying data-collecting surveillance technology, with annual reporting and an exigent-circumstances exception. In the interim the program was partly circumvented: the Texas Department of Public Safety installed cameras on state highway rights-of-way inside Austin in February 2026, and APD retained access to neighboring departments' data.", "openQuestions": [ "Obtain the city audit report and the withdrawn agenda item as primary documents", "Confirm the exact scope of APD's continued access to neighboring agencies' ALPR data after June 30, 2025", "Confirm the TRUST Act ordinance number and final vote tally" ], "tier": "official-agency", "sources": [ { "label": "KUT: Austin's license plate reader program will end this month (June 4, 2025)", "url": "https://www.kut.org/austin/2025-06-04/austin-tx-automatic-license-reader-program-police-data-privacy-flock" }, { "label": "Community Impact: Austin to halt police license plate reader program after public pushback (June 4, 2025)", "url": "https://communityimpact.com/austin/south-central-austin/government/2025/06/04/austin-to-halt-police-license-plate-reader-program-after-public-pushback/" }, { "label": "KUT: Austin ended its license plate reader program. Then the police department found a loophole. (Feb 12, 2026)", "url": "https://www.kut.org/crime-justice/2026-02-12/austin-tx-apd-flock-cameras-license-plate-readers" }, { "label": "KVUE: Austin City Council passes TRUST Act to regulate surveillance tech use", "url": "https://www.kvue.com/article/news/politics/austin-mayor-and-council/austin-city-council-trust-act-regulate-surveillance-tech-use/269-1ccd701f-a672-41dc-b071-db8396a4c2f7" } ] }, { "id": "denver-co-2025-05-05", "url": "https://unsurveilled.org/decisions/denver-co-2025-05-05/", "jurisdiction": "Denver", "state": "CO", "decidedBy": "Denver City Council", "date": "2025-05-05", "action": "declined", "vendor": "Flock Safety", "cameras": 110, "contractValue": "$666,000 (rejected extension)", "summary": "The Denver City Council voted 12-0 to reject a $666,000 contract extension with Flock Safety that would have continued operating more than 100 automated license plate reader cameras across the city. Mayor Mike Johnston urged the council to reject the extension and instead convene a task force to study the privacy issues residents had raised.", "drivers": [ "Resident privacy concerns about the ALPR program", "Mayor Johnston's own request that council reject the extension", "Revelations the vendor could share data with federal immigration authorities", "ACLU of Colorado campaign to end the contract" ], "outcome": "The unanimous rejection did not end the program. In October 2025 Mayor Johnston announced a short-term extension with Flock anyway, drawing public outrage over overriding the council's unanimous vote. The city announced in February 2026 it would not renew; all 110 Flock cameras were decommissioned and removed as the contract expired on 2026-03-31. Denver then replaced rather than abandoned the capability: in late March 2026 the council approved a one-year, $150,000 Axon contract for 50 fixed ALPR cameras by a 7-6 margin, with Council President Amanda Sandoval casting the tiebreaking vote and objecting that a $150,000 contract should not have come to council at all. The ACLU of Colorado opposed the Axon deal. Privately owned Flock cameras in Denver kept running; police said they have no direct access to those systems.", "openQuestions": [ "Exact date of the March 2026 Axon contract vote not confirmed", "Whether the mayor's October 2025 short-term extension required or received council approval" ], "tier": "news-reported", "sources": [ { "label": "Denverite - Denver rejects $666,000 extension for license-plate surveillance cameras after backlash", "url": "https://denverite.com/2025/05/05/denver-rejects-flock-camera-license-plate-readers/" }, { "label": "Axios Denver - Denver's controversial license plate reader extension rejected", "url": "https://www.axios.com/local/denver/2025/05/05/denver-mayor-license-plate-reader-extension-rejected" }, { "label": "9News - Denver removes all 110 Flock license plate reader cameras as contract expires", "url": "https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/denver-removes-flock-license-plate-reader-cameras/73-eaf91d0a-3b90-45f5-8338-dbb9f79a8712" }, { "label": "9News - Denver City Council approves Axon license plate reader contract by single vote", "url": "https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/local-politics/denver-city-councilaxon-license-plate-reader-contract-flock/73-b757a1bc-3e36-49b2-8de0-2742600be5db" }, { "label": "ACLU of Colorado - Denver City Council Approves New Axon Contract to Replace Flock", "url": "https://www.aclu-co.org/news/denver-city-council-approves-new-axon-contract-to-replace-flock-despite-community-concerns-and-calls-for-a-no-vote/" } ] }, { "id": "commonwealth-of-virginia-statewide-va-2025-05-02", "url": "https://unsurveilled.org/decisions/commonwealth-of-virginia-statewide-va-2025-05-02/", "jurisdiction": "Commonwealth of Virginia (statewide)", "state": "VA", "decidedBy": "Virginia General Assembly; signed by Governor Glenn Youngkin", "date": "2025-05-02", "action": "restricted", "vendor": null, "cameras": null, "contractValue": null, "summary": "Governor Glenn Youngkin signed HB 2724 on May 2, 2025, enacting Virginia's first statutory framework restricting law enforcement use of automated license plate readers, now codified at Va. Code § 2.2-5517 and effective July 1, 2025. The law requires ALPR data to be purged within 21 days of capture in a manner that makes it unrecoverable by either the vendor or the agency, and limits use to criminal investigations supported by reasonable suspicion, missing or endangered person investigations including human trafficking, and receipt of notifications about missing persons, outstanding warrants, human trafficking, or stolen vehicles and plates. The General Assembly rejected Youngkin's proposed amendments, which would have extended the retention limit to 30 days and stripped the bill's reenactment clause, and returned the bill as originally passed.", "drivers": [ "Legislative concern about indefinite retention of bulk plate data", "Sen. Barbara Favola's amendment adding a reenactment clause, driven by concern that highway data could be requested by other states to track people seeking abortions", "Legislature's refusal to accept the Governor's weakening amendments" ], "outcome": "The 21-day purge requirement and use limits took effect July 1, 2025 and bind every law enforcement agency in the Commonwealth. Misuse by law enforcement is a Class 1 misdemeanor and agencies must file annual de-identified usage reports beginning April 2027. The provision permitting agencies to install ALPRs on state rights-of-way was made contingent on reenactment by the 2026 General Assembly, deliberately forcing a second vote before any highway expansion.", "openQuestions": [ "Whether the 2026 General Assembly reenacted the state right-of-way permit provision, which would permit ALPR expansion onto Virginia highways", "Whether the 21-day purge is being verified in practice, particularly against vendor-held cloud copies", "How the statute interacts with Schmidt v. City of Norfolk, the Institute for Justice Fourth Amendment challenge now at the Fourth Circuit (No. 26-1227)" ], "tier": "primary-document", "sources": [ { "label": "Va. Code § 2.2-5517 — Use of automatic license plate recognition systems by law-enforcement agencies", "url": "https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title2.2/chapter55.6/section2.2-5517/" }, { "label": "Virginia State Crime Commission — HB 2724 ALPR Fact Sheet (February 2025)", "url": "https://vscc.virginia.gov/2024/VSCC%20HB%202724%20ALPR%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf" }, { "label": "Virginia Lawyers Weekly — License plate surveillance camera regulations receive Youngkin's endorsement", "url": "https://valawyersweekly.com/2025/05/12/virginia-license-plate-reader-law-2024/" }, { "label": "Virginia Mercury — License plate reader bill survives, but surveillance concerns loom", "url": "https://virginiamercury.com/2025/02/18/license-plate-reader-bill-survives-but-surveillance-concerns-loom/" } ] }, { "id": "eureka-ca-2025-02-04", "url": "https://unsurveilled.org/decisions/eureka-ca-2025-02-04/", "jurisdiction": "Eureka", "state": "CA", "decidedBy": "Eureka City Council", "date": "2025-02-04", "action": "declined", "vendor": "Flock Safety", "cameras": 24, "contractValue": "$74,000 (installation plus first year)", "summary": "The Eureka City Council voted 5-0 to reject the Eureka Police Department's proposal to install roughly two dozen Flock Safety automated license plate readers at points of entry to the city. The vote followed nearly two hours of public comment in which all but one of roughly 50 speakers urged rejection. Councilmembers cited data-sharing risk to undocumented residents and questioned whether the money was well spent.", "drivers": [ "Fear that data would reach federal immigration authorities", "Sustained public comment overwhelmingly opposed", "Doubt about long-term data security and encryption", "Cost-benefit skepticism from councilmembers" ], "outcome": "The cameras were never installed. Eureka's rejection predates the 2025-2026 national cancellation wave by roughly ten months, making it an early marker rather than a follow-on. Other Humboldt County agencies, including the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office and Blue Lake Rancheria, proceeded with ALPR deployments regardless, so the city decision did not create an ALPR-free county.", "openQuestions": [ "Official council minutes not obtained; vote count and dollar figure come from press coverage and the published agenda item" ], "tier": "news-reported", "sources": [ { "label": "Lost Coast Outpost - Eureka City Council Unanimously Rejects Proposal", "url": "https://lostcoastoutpost.com/2025/feb/5/no-license-plate-reading-cameras/" }, { "label": "GovTech - Eureka, Calif., Votes No on License Plate Reader Cameras", "url": "https://www.govtech.com/public-safety/eureka-calif-votes-no-on-license-plate-reader-cameras" }, { "label": "Lost Coast Outpost Agendizer - Eureka City Council ALPR agenda item", "url": "https://lostcoastoutpost.com/agendizer/eureka-city-council/452/" } ] }, { "id": "springfield-tn-2024-10-15", "url": "https://unsurveilled.org/decisions/springfield-tn-2024-10-15/", "jurisdiction": "Springfield", "state": "TN", "decidedBy": "Springfield Board of Mayor and Aldermen", "date": "2024-10-15", "action": "adopted", "vendor": "Flock Safety", "cameras": 6, "contractValue": null, "summary": "The Springfield Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted 7-0 to approve a contract with Flock Safety Inc. for six license plate readers and their installation. City officials described the intended uses as solving crimes, locating missing persons, and tracking stolen vehicles, and stated explicitly that the cameras would not be used for traffic enforcement.", "drivers": [ "police department request", "stolen vehicle and missing persons rationale" ], "outcome": "Not yet re-examined publicly as of Aug 2026. Tennessee legislators at the state and federal level began pushing new ALPR restrictions in mid-2026 ahead of the January legislative session, which could affect Springfield's operating rules.", "openQuestions": [ "Contract dollar value and term were not disclosed in reporting", "Whether the no-traffic-enforcement limitation is written into the contract or is only a stated policy" ], "tier": "news-reported", "sources": [ { "label": "Main Street Media of Tennessee: City of Springfield approves contract for installation of license plate readers", "url": "https://mainstreetmediatn.com/articles/news-robertsoncountyconnection/city-of-springfield-approves-contract-for-installation-of-license-plate-readers/" }, { "label": "WSMV: Tennessee leaders push for license plate reader regulations amid privacy concerns (July 29, 2026)", "url": "https://www.wsmv.com/2026/07/29/tennessee-leaders-push-license-plate-reader-regulations-amid-privacy-concerns/" } ] }, { "id": "wichita-ks-2024-10-15", "url": "https://unsurveilled.org/decisions/wichita-ks-2024-10-15/", "jurisdiction": "Wichita", "state": "KS", "decidedBy": "Wichita City Council", "date": "2024-10-15", "action": "expanded", "vendor": "Flock Safety", "cameras": 31, "contractValue": "about $337,000 (combined ALPR expansion and gunshot detection)", "summary": "The Wichita City Council unanimously approved Wichita Police Department funding to expand its Flock Safety license plate reader network and to buy gunshot detection devices. The package covered 10 readers under a five-year agreement plus 21 more under a two-year agreement, with the combined cost of the expanded technology reported at roughly $337,000.", "drivers": [ "police department request", "crime-reduction rationale" ], "outcome": "Wichita's network grew past 195 cameras by early 2026, capturing a reported 900,000 vehicle photographs a month. In July 2026 the Kansas Justice Institute sued the City of Wichita in Sedgwick County District Court on behalf of resident Mason Grimmett, asking a judge to declare the roughly 200-camera program warrantless dragnet surveillance under the Kansas Constitution and shut it down. Separately, reporting in 2026 indicated ongoing Flock costs beyond grant-funded cameras were being covered by an internal budget reallocation that was never brought to council for a vote.", "openQuestions": [ "Pull the Oct 15, 2024 council agenda and minutes to separate the ALPR line item from the gunshot-detection line item", "Confirm the status and docket number of the Kansas Justice Institute suit", "Verify whether the post-grant Flock funding was ever presented to council" ], "tier": "news-reported", "sources": [ { "label": "KWCH: Wichita City Council approves funding to expand Flock system, 'gunshot detectors' (Oct 15, 2024)", "url": "https://www.kwch.com/2024/10/15/wichita-city-council-approves-funding-expand-flock-system-gunshot-detectors/" }, { "label": "KAKE: Wichita City Council approves funding for Flock camera expansion", "url": "https://www.kake.com/home/wichita-city-council-approves-funding-for-flock-camera-expansion/article_331be02e-8b5d-11ef-b5f1-47b2cd08f4fc.html" }, { "label": "Kansas Reflector: Kansas lawsuit challenges Wichita law enforcement's reliance on license plate reader cameras (July 31, 2026)", "url": "https://kansasreflector.com/2026/07/31/kansas-lawsuit-challenges-wichita-law-enforcements-reliance-on-license-plate-reader-cameras/" }, { "label": "KCUR: Kansas lawsuit challenges Wichita Police license plate cameras as unconstitutional", "url": "https://www.kcur.org/news/2026-08-01/kansas-flock-license-plate-camera-lawsuit-wichita-police" } ] } ], "incidents": [ { "id": "apache-junction-az-officer-resigns", "url": "https://unsurveilled.org/incidents/apache-junction-az-officer-resigns/", "title": "Apache Junction officer resigns after using readers to find a family member", "date": "2026-08-10", "dateNote": null, "jurisdiction": "Apache Junction", "state": "Arizona", "agency": "Apache Junction Police Department", "vendor": "Flock Safety", "harmType": "officer-misuse", "summary": "An Apache Junction officer used license plate reader technology for personal purposes to locate a family member, according to the department. He asked two dispatchers to run the plate, falsely telling them it was for a welfare check.", "outcome": "The officer resigned. Chief Michael Pooley said that had he not resigned, he would have been terminated.", "disputed": null, "tier": "official-agency", "sources": [ { "label": "AZFamily: Apache Junction officer accused of misusing license plate reader to track family member", "url": "https://www.azfamily.com/2026/08/10/apache-junction-officer-accused-misusing-license-plate-reader-track-family-member/" }, { "label": "ABC15: Apache Junction officer resigns amid investigation into license plate reader misuse", "url": "https://www.abc15.com/news/region-southeast-valley/apache-junction/apache-junction-officer-resigns-amid-investigation-into-flock-license-plate-reader-misuse" }, { "label": "KJZZ: Apache Junction police officer resigns after inappropriate use of cameras", "url": "https://www.kjzz.org/kjzz-news/2026-08-10/apache-junction-police-officer-resigns-after-inappropriate-use-of-flock-cameras" } ] }, { "id": "chandler-az-audit-anomaly", "url": "https://unsurveilled.org/incidents/chandler-az-audit-anomaly/", "title": "Chandler audit finds unexplained system use; city ends the program", "date": "2026-08-07", "dateNote": null, "jurisdiction": "Chandler", "state": "Arizona", "agency": "Chandler Police Department", "vendor": "Flock Safety", "harmType": "officer-misuse", "summary": "A routine audit at Chandler PD identified, for the first time in three years of audits, an anomaly in license plate reader use that could not be explained by standard police action. The chief described it as potential misuse by someone inside the department. The city cut all access and ended the program.", "outcome": "All 40 cameras discontinued and the service agreement not renewed. Access revoked for every member of the department. The city committed to policy revision, additional audit procedures, and new reporting requirements. An internal investigation was ongoing at the time of announcement.", "disputed": "The city stated that its initial review made clear no Chandler resident or member of the public had their privacy compromised. That is the city's characterization of an investigation it had not yet completed, and we present it as the city's position rather than as an established fact.", "tier": "official-agency", "sources": [ { "label": "City of Chandler news release", "url": "https://www.chandleraz.gov/news-center/chandler-discontinues-use-flocks-automated-license-plate-readers" }, { "label": "AZFamily: Chandler ends use of Flock license plate readers after audit finds anomaly", "url": "https://www.azfamily.com/2026/08/07/chandler-ends-use-flock-license-plate-readers-after-audit-finds-anomaly/" }, { "label": "KJZZ: Chandler police end Flock camera partnership after potential misuse", "url": "https://www.kjzz.org/politics/2026-08-07/chandler-police-end-flock-camera-partnership-after-potential-misuse" } ] }, { "id": "johnson-county-tx-nationwide-search", "url": "https://unsurveilled.org/incidents/johnson-county-tx-nationwide-search/", "title": "A deputy searched 83,000 cameras nationwide to find one woman", "date": "2025-05-01", "dateNote": "Reported May 2025; the search itself is documented in system audit logs.", "jurisdiction": "Johnson County", "state": "Texas", "agency": "Johnson County Sheriff's Office", "vendor": "Flock Safety", "harmType": "data-sharing", "summary": "A Texas deputy ran a nationwide license plate search across roughly 83,000 cameras to locate a woman who had ended a pregnancy. The search reached far outside Texas, into states with no connection to any Texas investigation.", "outcome": "Illinois moved to block dozens of out-of-state agencies from searching its data, and the Illinois Attorney General took up the matter. The vendor added keyword flagging for sensitive search reasons.", "disputed": "The sheriff has said the search was a welfare check on behalf of a concerned family member, not an investigation. Reporting on the underlying records indicates potential charges were discussed. We present both accounts because the characterization is genuinely in dispute; what is not in dispute is the scale of the search.", "tier": "contested", "sources": [ { "label": "EFF: Open records laws reveal ALPR's sprawling surveillance", "url": "https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/04/open-records-laws-reveal-alprs-sprawling-surveillance-now-states-want-block-what" }, { "label": "404 Media reporting on nationwide ALPR searches", "url": "https://www.404media.co/" } ] }, { "id": "gilliam-aurora-children-handcuffed", "url": "https://unsurveilled.org/incidents/gilliam-aurora-children-handcuffed/", "title": "Aurora: four children handcuffed face-down after a plate matched a motorcycle", "date": "2020-08-02", "dateNote": null, "jurisdiction": "Aurora", "state": "Colorado", "agency": "Aurora Police Department", "vendor": null, "harmType": "wrongful-stop", "summary": "Aurora officers stopped Brittney Gilliam's SUV after a system flagged it as stolen. The actually-stolen vehicle was a motorcycle registered in Montana that shared a plate number with her Colorado plate — the system compared digits without comparing issuing state or vehicle type.", "outcome": "Officers ordered everyone out at gunpoint and handcuffed the children face-down on the asphalt. The City settled for $1.9 million in February 2024.", "disputed": null, "tier": "court-documented", "sources": [ { "label": "Reporting and settlement coverage, Aurora ALPR stop", "url": "https://www.aclu.org/news/privacy-technology/automatic-license-plate-readers-are-a-threat-to-privacy" }, { "label": "EFF: The human toll of ALPR errors", "url": "https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/11/human-toll-alpr-errors" } ] }, { "id": "denise-green-san-francisco", "url": "https://unsurveilled.org/incidents/denise-green-san-francisco/", "title": "Denise Green: one misread character, held at gunpoint", "date": "2009-03-30", "dateNote": null, "jurisdiction": "San Francisco", "state": "California", "agency": "San Francisco Police Department", "vendor": null, "harmType": "wrongful-stop", "summary": "A plate reader misread one character of Denise Green's license plate — a 3 as a 7 — matching a stolen truck. Officers stopped her burgundy sedan, ordered her out at gunpoint, and handcuffed her, without visually confirming the plate or noticing that the vehicle did not match.", "outcome": "The Ninth Circuit revived her civil rights claim, and the City settled for $495,000. It remains the foundational case on the danger of treating an automated alert as probable cause.", "disputed": null, "tier": "court-documented", "sources": [ { "label": "Green v. City and County of San Francisco (9th Cir.)", "url": "https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-9th-circuit/1666208.html" }, { "label": "EFF: New Ninth Circuit opinion calls into question blind reliance on plate camera IDs", "url": "https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/05/new-ninth-circuit-opinion-calls-question-blind-reliance-license-plate-camera-ids" }, { "label": "ACLU: San Francisco woman pulled out of car at gunpoint", "url": "https://www.aclu.org/blog/privacy-technology/location-tracking/san-francisco-woman-pulled-out-car-gunpoint-because" } ] } ] }