License-plate readers (ALPR)

On October 7, 2026, the Avon Town Council voted 4-3 to terminate its contract with Flock Safety for 12 automated license plate reader cameras. Council members cited fears of federal overreach, data breaches, and artificial intelligence. Some cameras will be decommissioned immediately, while a few already paid for must remain until the contract is fully cancelled. The vote followed vandalism and public debate. Council member Kevin Hyatt said, “The AI is scary, the data safety is scary.” Council member Ruth Stanley said she had questions about who can access information. The mayor and mayor pro tem voted to keep the cameras. The town is researching closed surveillance systems to replace Flock.

Henrico County, Virginia announced termination of its Flock Safety automatic license plate reader contract, which was set to run until Nov. 14. The county had spent about $1 million on the program since November 2022 and installed over 120 ALPRs. Officials cited privacy concerns, with no financial penalty for early termination.

Flock Safety sent an email to Connecticut police departments warning of a security incident. A malicious actor published a website showing the location of more than 300,000 Flock devices. Flock said the data was unlawfully accessed from a third-party map service and that no images, video or sensitive law enforcement data was exposed. Ledyard Police Chief Ken Cruetz asked the town council to sever the contract. Records show Flock knew about the vulnerability for almost nine months but did not notify customers until the website appeared.

Snohomish County, Washington paid $35,000 to settle a lawsuit in September after failing to release images from Flock Safety cameras. The settlement, which admitted no liability, was described by the county as a “risk management decision.” It is part of over $335,000 in settlements that attorney Tim Hall has secured from 16 Washington jurisdictions for client Jose Rodriguez, who filed 53 public records requests about automated license plate reader technology.

A federal jury ruled against Bexar County after Alek Schott was pulled over in March 2022 on Interstate 35 when his license plate was flagged by a reader. Schott was detained for 76 minutes and a K-9 search found nothing. The jury awarded $76 and found the stop violated his Fourth Amendment rights. Attorneys for Schott are seeking an injunction against such stops.

A Flock license plate reader search led Lexington, Kentucky police to the wrong home on September 26, 2026. The search flagged a dark Ram 2500 as a possible match for a road-rage assault vehicle based on make/model/color, even though the plate did not match. More than a dozen officers and cruisers responded, guns were drawn briefly, and police later apologized after determining the vehicle was not involved.

On September 23, 2026, Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears announced charges against five Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers for allegedly using Flock license-plate cameras to conduct thousands of impermissible searches, primarily to track ex-partners and acquaintances. Officer Jonathan Schultz faces 26 counts, including fraud and stalking. IMPD Chief Tanya Terry stated the department will retain its 301 leased Flock cameras and has tightened access requirements, including mandatory case numbers and new policy acknowledgments. The department discovered the misuse after an officer self-reported, leading to an internal audit.

Monroe, Ohio, City Council voted unanimously on September 22, 2026, to end its contract with Flock Safety and deactivate all 23 license-plate reading cameras. The city approved a two-year contract in 2024 with a reported cost of $149,950. Residents were split, with one resident saying, “I’m here because I’m really sick and tired of seeing those protections eroded by a digital dragnet we never consented to.” Council members described the decision as difficult. Mayor and vice mayor were absent. Voters could potentially bring cameras back, but not on the November ballot.

Hutto City Council voted unanimously on Sept. 17 to cancel the city’s contract with Flock Safety for automatic license plate reader cameras and to remove 10 cameras, citing residents’ concerns about government surveillance, data collection and potential misuse. The cameras had been deactivated in August by Police Chief Jeff Yarbrough, who was awaiting more information about possible system vulnerabilities. The decision also prohibits the use of license-plate reader technology from other companies. The city retains Flock contracts for closed-loop cameras and a video monitoring system not linked to the shared license plate reader system.

Hackers from a collective calling itself stegan0gram removed a Flock Safety camera above a roadway, copied its storage, and recovered an encryption key stored on the device. The recovered logs and videos showed the device captured 1.6 million images of 50,000 vehicles in 21 days, and its software explicitly detects people as well as vehicles, license plates, and bicycles.

A blog post by Micah Lee, based on a dataset published by DDoSecrets from a collective called stegan0gram, describes security flaws in a Flock ALPR camera. The camera ran Android 8.1 with a security patch level from 2018-06-05, missing years of updates. The firmware contained a hard-coded API key for Flock’s backend service, presumably allowing credential retrieval for any camera. Logs revealed the camera’s location in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin.

Neenah’s Common Council unanimously voted to end the city’s contract with Flock Safety for automated license plate reading cameras. The cameras were already deactivated, and the city will bag them and request removal within 30 days. Police Chief Aaron Olson requested the termination, citing privacy and Fourth Amendment concerns and a lack of trust in Flock’s transparency. The contract allows stopping payments before the fiscal year ends December 31, so taxpayers will cover the remaining $8,500 of the $30,000 annual agreement. The city will wait for state lawmakers to consider Assembly Bill 576 before pursuing replacement technology.

On Tuesday night, the Oconomowoc Common Council voted 5-2 to cancel the city’s contract with Flock Safety, ending six license-plate cameras. Early termination could cost the city $18,000 next year, already in the draft budget. The same night, Waukesha’s Common Council voted not to fund Flock after 2026, dropping a proposed $292,000 line from its 2027-2030 capital plan. Racine’s mayor broke a 7-7 tie to terminate that city’s contract; cameras stay live for 30 days to finish open cases. Oconomowoc’s school district said it will follow the city’s decision on four leased cameras.

Lindsey has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against two Florida Highway Patrol troopers, alleging false arrest, wrongful imprisonment, and malicious prosecution. The lawsuit follows an arrest tied to a Flock license plate camera hit. The State Attorney’s Office declined to prosecute all eight charges on May 22, 2026. Her complaint describes the Flock evidence as exculpatory, not inculpatory.

The Bastrop City Council voted unanimously to decommission the city’s 12 Flock Safety automated license plate reader cameras and terminate the agreement with Flock Safety. The vote approved Resolution R-2026-134. Council members also approved language requiring that any future ALPR technology come before the council for approval. Mayor Pro Tem John Kirkland proposed the change. Mayor Ishmael Harris previously cited privacy concerns and uncertainty about data access. The vote follows a decision last week to consider terminating the contract. The city’s contract had been set to renew in July 2027.

Englewood City Council voted unanimously, 6-0, to terminate the city’s contract with Flock for automatic license plate reader cameras. City Attorney Tamara Niles said the city would have to pay a $27,500 annual service fee plus a $6,000 early camera removal fee, though police were trying to negotiate lower fees. Flock would remove the cameras, but no removal timeframe is in the contract. Mayor Othoniel Sierra cited concerns about how Flock shares data. A proposed replacement contract with Axon failed on a 3-3 vote.

Former Fort Pierce police officer Josepher Crutchfield was arrested on September 8, 2026 on four felony counts of unauthorized computer access. Investigators said he accessed Flock license-plate reader databases 382 times between October 2025 and July 2026 to search a license plate registered to his ex-girlfriend, without a legitimate law enforcement purpose. He also searched other databases including FCIC, NCIC, DAVID and TLO. Crutchfield had resigned from the department on August 18, 2026. Chief David Smith said, “The conduct alleged in this case is unacceptable.”

On September 8, 2026, the Lebanon, Ohio, city council voted to immediately shut off and cover its 20 Flock Safety automated license plate readers. The vote followed Flock Safety’s failure to respond to a letter containing 54 questions about data retention and access within three weeks. Mayor Mark Messer said he lost confidence in the company after it did not reply. The council also gave city officials seven business days to determine whether the city can exit its contract without paying $60,000 for the final year. Flock Safety did not respond to a request for comment.

On Sept. 8, Manvel City Council voted unanimously to cancel its four-year contract with Flock Safety and removed funding for the contract in the fiscal 2026-27 budget. All 16 of the city’s Flock cameras were covered within 48 hours, and the police department shut off external agency access to the camera feed. Mayor Dan Davis said, “It’s time to deflock Manvel.” Council members and residents voiced privacy concerns and distrust of private surveillance networks.

Chula Vista Police paused a proposal to acquire Flock Safety automated drones, citing cost and privacy concerns. The deal would have cost the city $400,000 in its first year and $700,000 annually thereafter. The department had recommended Flock to the city’s Privacy Protection and Technology Advisory Commission in July. Officials said they are not moving forward with Flock’s automated drones for now and will keep using existing drones until alternatives are evaluated. The existing Drone as a First Responder program costs about $1.2 million per year with sworn officer pilots.

On September 3, 2026, the Leander City Council instructed staff to suspend use of the police department’s 14 Flock license-plate cameras and to discontinue funding its Flock contract. The decision followed a public hearing lasting over an hour in which dozens of residents raised privacy and security concerns. The cameras had been installed in summer 2025 and the department said they helped solve crimes such as shootings and robberies. The city had applied for a $236,000 federal grant, of which $50,000 was intended for cameras.

Two San Diego men, Hugo Parra and Ariel Alonso Beltran, filed a lawsuit against the city alleging officers used Flock automated license plate reader data to arrest them for a crime they did not commit. The men were arrested on November 26 after a Flock hit matched their red Alfa Romeo to a suspect vehicle. Charges were later dropped. The lawsuit alleges false arrest, negligence, unreasonable detention, and failure to investigate.

In September 2026, a federal jury in San Antonio found Bexar County liable for an unconstitutional traffic-stop program using Flock surveillance cameras. The jury ruled that the March 15, 2022 stop of Alek Schott on Interstate 35 violated his Fourth Amendment rights. Flock cameras flagged Schott’s truck as suspicious, and a deputy stopped him, held him for over an hour, and searched his vehicle. The jury awarded Schott $76, one dollar per minute of detention. Court documents show the county’s operation ran for four years and targeted countless motorists.

In September 2026, a Suffolk Superior Court judge ruled that the Massachusetts State Police must disclose records related to its use of automatic license plate readers (ALPRs), including camera locations and audit records. The ruling came in a case filed in November 2023. The decision requires the state police to release information about its ALPR operations. This is a result of ongoing litigation concerning surveillance technology used by law enforcement.

In September, the Newburgh City Council is expected to terminate its contract with Flock Safety for automated license plate recognition technology. Council members and residents expressed concern that data could be shared with federal agencies. A resolution states the technology “is no longer consistent with the city’s policy priorities regarding privacy, civil liberties, public accountability and community trust.” If approved, the city would stop using the system through the remainder of the year. City attorney Michele Kelson said steps are needed to protect existing data. Residents of Pleasant Valley have also raised concerns about the system.

In September 2026 a federal jury in Texas ruled for Alek Schott, who sued Bexar County and its sheriff over a 2022 traffic stop that began with automated license plate reader data. The jury awarded $76, one dollar for each minute he was detained. Schott was stopped in March 2022 driving home from Carrizo Springs; a deputy later admitted the stated reason, lane drifting, was bogus, and Schott’s dashcam showed no drifting. The tip came through a law enforcement WhatsApp group from someone called Kiki with access to license plate reader data, citing Schott’s one-day turnaround. A drug dog alerted and the truck was searched; nothing was found. The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office touts its use of Flock Safety cameras.

Fort Wayne Police Chief Paul Smith announced that the department canceled its subscription with Flock Safety, taking the license plate reader system offline. City Council had voted against renewing the contract for 36 cameras. The federal government allowed the grant that funded the program to close early without penalty. FWPD-controlled data stored in the Flock system was deleted, and Flock began removing cameras from locations throughout Fort Wayne.

On August 28, 2026, Governor Greg Abbott’s office confirmed that state agencies would pause state funding for Flock license plate reader cameras after two officer criminal cases. A former Katy police officer was indicted in Fort Bend County on stalkng and misuse-of-official-information charges; internal affairs records obtained by KHOU reportedly showed 2,386 searches of his ex-wife’s plate over 11 months. He was fired and has pleaded not guilty. A Lufkin officer was arrested by Texas Rangers on Aug. 20 and indicted on 100 felony counts of misuse of official information; Lufkin suspended its Flock use. The Texas Tribune reported a state agency has devoted at least $30 million in grants to local police for Flock cameras. Abbott’s spokesman said city funding mostly comes from the federal government, and state funds cannot be used for the cameras.

On August 27 the Milford Board of Aldermen voted, after a meeting lasting more than four hours, to pause the use of most of the city’s speed, red-light and Flock license plate reader cameras. The mayor confirmed all speed cameras were turned off. Most Flock readers were disabled, including units on Gulf Street, Woodruff Avenue, Woodmont Avenue, Broad Street, Anderson Avenue, Merwin Avenue and the Boston Post Road; 14 remain active at the city’s borders, including I-95 and Route 15. The board also created a Public Safety and Technology Review Committee to review camera systems, contracts and vendors twice a year. The police union filed with the state labor department seeking a cease-and-desist and requested a hearing for September 8. Governor Lamont had earlier asked towns to pause new camera installations pending a POST Council review.

The Asheville City Council voted 5-2 on August 25, 2026, to terminate the city’s contract with Flock Safety, ending the operation of 11 Flock automatic license plate readers. The contract had been in place since 2025 and was originally set to run through 2027. The resolution stated that Asheville has not used facial recognition technology and has not shared Flock data with facial recognition databases. The city manager will review the contract, and the police department will engage with an American Civil Liberties Union policy reviewer. Council members S. Anntanette Mosley and Sheneika Smith voted against the resolution.

Kentucky police officer Asad Zahir was arrested after using Flock Safety’s license-plate reader system to track his ex-girlfriend over 2,000 times. Flock’s new AI auditing tool flagged the activity, leading to his arrest on charges of official misconduct and unlawful access to a computer. Zahir was suspended without pay. Police Chief Andre Bottoms announced a full review of the department’s Flock procedures, including access and oversight. The case highlights ongoing concerns about misuse of automated license-plate readers by law enforcement.

On August 25, 2026, Fort Wayne City Council voted unanimously to deny funding for a $120,250 contract with Flock Group Inc. that would have allowed the police to continue using 36 license plate reader cameras. The vote followed a 5-4 initial rejection in May and public concerns about privacy, data retention, and civil liberties. Councilwoman Michelle Chambers changed her vote, saying she was not sufficiently confident in the company’s data protections. Councilman Russ Jehl said civil liberties are not easily regained once lost. The police department said it will respect the decision.

On Aug. 25, 2026, Pflugerville City Council voted unanimously not to renew a lease with Flock Safety for automated license plate readers that would have cost $87,500 per year. City Manager James Hartshorn directed staff to cover the cameras and turn off the system after an issue allowed nonpartner law enforcement agencies to access city data. A resident’s open-records review showed outside agencies searched Pflugerville camera data nearly 1.6 million times. Police Chief Willie Richards said he lacked clarity on data protection and could not recommend renewal.

Revere police officer Michael Tiso was suspended for three days without pay after an internal investigation concluded he misused the city’s Flock license plate reader system to track an ex-girlfriend. The suspension ran from August 24 to August 26. Investigators found he accessed the system in violation of department policies, according to a Boston Globe report. He has since returned to duty. Revere police said they have implemented new audit tools to flag unusual search activity.

The Auburn City Council voted unanimously on Aug. 21, 2026, to end a four-year, $120,000 contract with Flock Safety for automated license plate readers posted around the city. Mayor Jimmy Giannettino said the city ‘messed up’ because it never voted to accept a $122,500 state grant that funded the contract. The council also voted to apply for a new LETECH grant, with police chief Matthew Androsko saying the money would go toward replacing drones and radios.

Zachary Anthony Klein, 32, an officer with the Lufkin Police Department, was indicted on charges of tampering with governmental records, abuse of official capacity, and misuse of official information. The charges stem from an investigation by the Texas Rangers into his use of the Flock license plate reader system. An audit found that Klein searched an ex-girlfriend’s license plate more than 10,000 times between June 2024 and December 2025. The searches were inconsistent with criminal investigations, according to an arrest affidavit. Klein was booked into the Angelina County Jail on Aug. 20, with bond set at $700,000. The Lufkin Police Department suspended use of Flock cameras while the investigation continues.

Body camera footage published by 404 Media shows Florida police officer Lamar Roman explaining he used department databases and license plate reader cameras to stalk a woman he met on the set of Apple TV’s Bad Monkey. Roman illegally looked up her information, placed her plate on a police ‘hot list’ that alerted him to ALPR hits, sped to follow her, and pulled her over. He said, ‘I saw a shiny thing, teasing and all that.’ An investigator told the victim that deputies had been told ‘that’s not what it’s for. You see a hot chick, you don’t look them up in a database.’ Roman used an ALPR system called Guardian made by Turing.

On August 18, 2026, the Oxford City Council voted 6-1 to terminate its contract with Flock Safety for automated license plate reader cameras. The council amended a resolution to change the wording from “maintain” to “terminate.” The city had already paid $48,000 for the year, with the contract ending in February 2027. Councilors cited privacy concerns and potential misuse of data. Councilor Bill Snavely said he worried other agencies might misuse collected data, and Mayor Mike Smith said he did not trust the company.

On August 18, 2026, the Stow Police Department announced it had cut ties with Flock Safety and removed its remaining license plate camera. The decision followed an internal affairs investigation concluding that Officer Jason Rogers used the Flock database and state systems to access a person’s personal information without a legitimate law enforcement reason on multiple occasions. Rogers was placed on unpaid leave and faces termination. The department filed a criminal complaint against him and forwarded findings to the Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission. Stow also removed two other Flock cameras earlier in 2026 after evaluating their effectiveness.

Stanwood City Council unanimously approved a $40,000 payment as its share of an $80,000 settlement to resolve a public records lawsuit over Flock Safety automated license plate reader camera images. The lawsuit arose from requests by Jose Rodrigues for camera images from Stanwood and Sedro-Woolley. A Skagit County Superior Court judge ruled the cities wrongfully withheld the images, which are public records subject to disclosure, and awarded attorney fees, costs, and penalties. The settlement is split evenly between the two cities.

On Aug. 13, 2026, the Washington cities of Stanwood and Sedro-Woolley settled a public records case for $80,000, split $40,000 each, with Jose Rodriguez, an Oregon resident who had requested Flock camera images from Stanwood in April 2025 and Sedro-Woolley in May 2025. The cities had sought a declaratory judgment that the images were not public records; on November 6, 2025, Skagit County Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Neidzwski ruled they were. After a new state law exempting plate reader footage took effect in March 2026, the cities dropped their appeal, and on July 16 the judge ruled they had wrongfully withheld the records. Cascadia Daily News reported that Rodriguez filed 53 requests to Washington governments between September 2024 and October 2025, that at least 15 jurisdictions paid settlements of $5,000 to $40,000 each, totalling more than $300,000, and that at least 13 recipients cancelled Flock contracts or deactivated cameras. Everett separately approved a $25,000 settlement in June 2026 over a Flock records request.

On August 10, 2026, three Bibb County sheriff’s deputies were arrested in Macon, Georgia, for misusing the department’s access to Flock license-plate readers. The deputies, two men and one woman, were charged with stalking, prohibited use of a traffic control device, and violation of their oaths of office. They used the system for personal purposes to monitor people they knew. All three resigned. The arrests followed an audit of the license-plate reading system.

On August 6, 2026, Brookfield police conducted a gunpoint stop of a Milwaukee woman after a Flock license-plate camera flagged her vehicle as connected to a homicide. The alert was an outdated National Crime Information Center entry that a Milwaukee detective had failed to remove after an earlier stop on July 27. Milwaukee police admitted the data error stemmed from personnel failure, not a flaw in Flock’s technology. The woman was released. She later retained attorney B’Ivory LaMarr, who planned to file a notice of claim against the city of Milwaukee. The incident was the second time in 10 days the woman was stopped at gunpoint over the same outdated alert.

The Narragansett Town Council voted 5-0 on August 3, 2026, to cancel the town’s Flock Safety license-plate camera contract effective immediately. The town solicitor had not completed a review of the cancellation penalty at the time of the vote; Council President Alexander Menzies estimated the town may lose roughly $12,600 for the final contract year, to be paid from forfeiture funds. The three remaining cameras on Boston Road, Point Judith Road, Woodruff Avenue, and near the Dillon Rotary are to be removed from service. The police chief had asked the council to delay the vote, and a civil liberties group urged removal.

In August 2026, Flock Safety announced it was reducing the default retention period for license-plate-reader data from 30 days to seven days, after which data is deleted unless an agency configures a different period. The Next Web reported the change followed nearly 50 documented cases of police officers misusing the plate-reader network. Flock also said it will require all law-enforcement customers to activate its Audit Assistance feature by the end of 2026; the feature analyses user activity and flags unusual searches for review by an agency administrator. The Deseret News reported on August 25, 2026 that the changes came amid public scrutiny of the cameras. No refund, fine or cost figure was reported.

In August 2026, the Florida Department of Transportation revoked all existing approvals for automated license-plate-recognition systems installed by local law-enforcement agencies in state rights-of-way and stopped approving new requests. Agencies were given 30 days to remove the cameras, after which FDOT said it would remove any that remained. The department cited “concerning reports of misuse, data privacy concerns, and surveillance schemes” and “the recent exponential increase in deployments along our roadways.” Governor Ron DeSantis had said that without oversight the cameras threaten privacy. The order applies only to the State Highway System. WUFT reported on August 31, 2026 that all of Putnam County’s Flock cameras were being discontinued. No removal cost or refund figure was reported.

In August 2026, the Gardner City Council voted not to renew a contract with Flock Safety for automated license plate readers. The Gardner Police Department discontinued use of all Flock cameras and notified the provider that the contract has been canceled. The city owned one Flock camera. Flock Safety announced plans to add more oversight to its system, retain some data for shorter periods, and more closely track how agencies use the platform.

In August 2026 the Boston Globe reported that Littleton, Massachusetts officials had voted in May to shut down six Flock cameras on public roads, and that police later discovered Flock had restored power to the cameras without notifying the town. The department ordered the cameras remotely powered down and confirmed a Flock work order was in place to remove them from utility poles as soon as possible. Techdirt described it as the second time Flock had activated a system a town had voted to shut down. Techdirt also reported that an audit by the South Carolina Secretary of Transportation found more than 200 unpermitted Flock cameras operating on public roads. The Globe reported that Cambridge, Massachusetts terminated its Flock contract after two cameras were installed without notification following an earlier removal. No public cost figures were reported.

In August 2026, Milford, Connecticut, officials voted to consider a moratorium on Flock license-plate cameras after a raucous town meeting. Residents and candidates from both major parties opposed the cameras. Police chief Keith Mello proposed them and defended them. State Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff and State Senator James Maroney said residents deserve answers about who’s watching and why. Connecticut will survey camera use and regulations in 2027.

In August 2026, Business Insider reported that Flock Safety cameras generated 1,427 alerts to the Roseville, California, police department in 2023 and 2024 for vehicles flagged as stolen or tied to felonies, and that a department analysis found 71% of those alerts came from the software misreading the plate. Records showed a 9 read as an 8, and the department reported bad reads to the company dozens of times over four years. Flock said its cameras read more than 96% of characters correctly in optimal conditions and blamed Roseville’s older hardware, higher camera mounting and rear-only capture. No alert led to a stop or arrest because officers must verify plates before acting. The city has spent roughly $450,000 on Flock products since 2020 and continues the contract.

Flock Safety’s license-plate readers sent 1,427 alerts to Roseville, California police in 2023 and 2024 flagging vehicles as stolen or used in a felony. A police department analysis found that in 71% of those alerts, Flock’s software incorrectly read the license plates. The city has used Flock cameras since 2021 and has spent around $450,000 on Flock products since 2020. Roseville police said none of the incorrect alerts resulted in a traffic stop or arrest because officers verify plates before stopping.

The Stoughton City Council voted unanimously on July 28, 2026 to terminate its contract with Flock Safety, ending use of five surveillance cameras after months of community opposition. The council ordered bags placed over the cameras and asked that all collected data be permanently deleted. The two-year contract total was $25,000, of which the city will still pay the remaining $12,500. The live feed camera pointed at the Cascade Falls apartment complex, which residents criticized as targeting a community of color.

Security researchers Jon Gaines and Benn Jordan demonstrated that a physical button sequence on Flock Safety cameras activates a diagnostic Wi-Fi hotspot, often protected by the default password “security.” This allows root access via Android Debug Bridge in under 30 seconds, enabling footage extraction, malware installation, and credential theft. Additionally, over 60 Flock cameras were found streaming live footage with no authentication, exposing 30 days of archived video. Flock operates over 100,000 license plate readers across the U.S.

On July 16, 2026, plaintiffs filed a first amended class action complaint in the Northern District of California against Motorola Solutions and its subsidiary Vigilant Solutions. The lawsuit alleges violations of California’s ALPR Privacy Act, including sharing California license plate data with out-of-state and federal agencies, failing to implement adequate usage and privacy policies, and failing to maintain reasonable security procedures. The complaint states Vigilant operates over a thousand ALPR devices in California and that data has been shared with entities such as Thomson Reuters and Palantir. Case number 3:26-cv-06099-JD.

In mid-July, Easthampton, Massachusetts, removed its Flock license plate reader cameras. The City Council had voted to cut funding after privacy concerns, including a report that Texas police searched Easthampton’s data for a woman who had an abortion. Police Chief Chad Alexander said the cameras were removed as of mid-July.

The Los Angeles Police Department’s Office of Inspector General audited two months of Flock Safety stolen-vehicle hot-list alerts from August and September 2025. Of 498 alerts, 161 were false positives: vehicles the system flagged as stolen were not stolen. The remaining 337 alerts led to recovered vehicles, about one in three alerts wrong. The audit attributed the errors to hot-list data, not plate reads: recovered vehicles not cleared from lists, outdated theft reports and uncorrected data-entry mistakes. The OIG recommended suspending new ALPR camera deployments and contracts pending public input and a broader reassessment of vendors and data practices. LAPD’s three-year 2023 agreement for 138 pole-mounted cameras expired July 11, 2026 and was not renewed, with the department citing privacy and data-ownership concerns. At the July 15 Police Commission meeting, officials said they were negotiating a new contract giving the city ownership of all plate data.

An audit released July 11, 2026 by the LAPD Office of the Inspector General found that during a two-month review period (August 1 to September 30, 2025) officers acknowledged 161 automated license-plate-reader ‘hot list’ alerts as accurate stolen-vehicle matches that were in fact wrong, generally because outdated data was never cleared after a vehicle was recovered. LAPD policy requires verification before stopping, but the audit found this frequently did not happen, and false hits triggered high-risk stops. Following the audit, LAPD let its data-sharing contract with Flock Safety expire.

The Los Angeles Police Commission’s Inspector General publicly released a review of the LAPD’s automatic license plate reader (ALPR) system. During a two-month review period ending September 30, 2025, cameras captured 210,568,103 license plate reads. Officers confirmed 161 ALPR alerts as accurate matches to scanned plates, but subsequent investigation determined the vehicles were not stolen. The report also found 337 alerts led to stolen vehicle recoveries, 68 alerts led to 74 arrests, and nine alerts resulted in pursuits. The OIG recommended suspending new ALPR camera deployments and new contracts pending public input and formal agreements with all vendors covering data security, privacy, access controls, retention, and auditing.

On July 6 the Windsor Town Council voted 5-4 to keep the town’s 16 Flock Safety license plate reader cameras off and to end its contract. The council had voted 8-1 in February to pause the cameras while it tried to renegotiate contract language on resident data ahead of a May renewal. A resident’s public records request showed Windsor data was searched 590,000 times over nine weeks. If the contract is terminated early, the town will pay around $8,000. The cameras are to be taken down by the fall.

The City of Fort Collins confirmed the removal of all 15 of its Flock Safety automated license plate reader cameras. The move ended the city’s contract with Flock after a February city council work session raised concerns about the company’s security record and the possibility that federal immigration authorities could access the data. District 5 Councilmember Amy Hoeven said the decision came down to trust in Flock as a company. The city is drafting a new surveillance policy.

In July, Killingworth became the second Connecticut town to end its Flock Safety contract. The town, which has no police department and relies on a resident state trooper, installed four cameras along Route 81 the previous year. The first selectman told CT Insider the cameras had not added any value to local policing. Officials said the town was negotiating the end of the contract for financial reasons while also taking resident privacy concerns into account. The town had budgeted $14,600 for licensing the four cameras in the current fiscal year. Officials said the town will have to pay a fee to exit the contract but did not yet know the amount. The cameras were expected to be removed the same month.

An SFPD audit found that the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center (NCRIC) had queried SFPD’s Flock network on behalf of federal and out-of-state agencies. There were 299 improper inquiries over approximately one year, accounting for 0.005% of inquiries. SFPD Chief Derrick Lew turned off NCRIC access and initiated an internal review. The improper searches were conducted by analysts with the Western States Information Network. California law prohibits sharing ALPR data with out-of-state and federal agencies.

On June 9, 2026, the Edmonds City Council unanimously voted to cancel the city’s contract with Flock Safety for automated license plate readers. The mayor had attempted to cancel the contract on May 26 without council approval, a procedural error. The council cited a new state law imposing stricter record retention and audit requirements, liability concerns, and reports of federal agency access to ALPR networks. The contract originally approved in October 2024 for 19 cameras was funded by a $131,880 grant from the Washington Auto Theft Prevention Authority. Termination had no financial impact on the city. Edmonds is the third Snohomish County city to cancel its Flock contract.

A class action complaint filed in New York State court on June 9, 2026 alleges Westchester County Police Department’s automated license plate reader system violates the state constitution and exceeds the department’s authority. The complaint says the system has at least 575 ALPRs, collected 264 million vehicle reads in 2024, and that over 99 percent were unrelated to any investigation. It alleges data is shared with ICE, FBI, and DEA without safeguards, and that Rekor Scout software captures driver images and may use facial recognition. Plaintiffs include a clinic escort and an immigration observer.

On June 8, 2026, the Columbia Heights City Council voted unanimously to terminate its contract with Flock Safety. The city will pay out the final year’s $49,000 without receiving service. The contract, signed in May 2024, covered seven fixed cameras and five flex cameras. The city cited privacy concerns and the possibility that automated license plate reader data could be accessed by immigration enforcement or other outside groups. The cameras have been removed or covered with bags.

In June 2026, Everett, Washington approved a $25,000 settlement with Jose Rodriguez to end litigation over Flock Safety automated license plate reader records. Rodriguez had requested approximately 30 minutes of the city’s Flock data. A Snohomish County judge ruled the recordings were public records, and Everett temporarily paused its Flock camera system. The city had argued the footage was not subject to public disclosure.

Eva Pizzarelli filed a federal lawsuit in June 2026 alleging Cumberland, Rhode Island police wrongfully arrested and prosecuted her after an officer used a Flock Safety license-plate camera photo to identify her as the driver of a fleeing vehicle. The suit says the camera captured a photo of a person inside the vehicle, not just a license plate. Pizzarelli was arrested April 8, 2025, held over six hours, and charged with reckless driving and eluding police. Charges were later dismissed. She seeks $750,000 in damages. The ACLU of Rhode Island has urged the town to end its Flock contract.

On 22 May 2026, prosecutors declined to prosecute Lindsey Brooke Isaacs on all eight charges, including three counts of vehicular homicide, after a second review found no collision damage on her black Dodge Durango. She had been arrested on 17 April 2026 after a Flock Safety license-plate reader placed her vehicle three miles from a fatal crash on Interstate 4. Witnesses described a maroon Durango. Isaacs spent 13 days in jail and has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against two Florida Highway Patrol troopers. Flock Safety said its cameras “provide investigative leads; they do not identify perpetrators.” Isaacs said investigators misinterpreted the footage.

On May 4, 2026, Sergio Guadalupe Rodriguez, a former Katy police officer, was arrested on two third-degree felony charges: stalking and misuse of official information. Indictments accuse him of using the Katy Police Department’s Flock license plate reader system to track his ex-wife between November 2024 and April 2025, and of placing a tracking device on her vehicle. Bond was set at $15,000 per charge. Rodriguez pleaded not guilty. Court conditions prohibit him from using law enforcement databases and possessing tracking devices.

On April 22, 2026, the Oshkosh Common Council voted 7-0 to rescind its approval of a Flock Safety camera contract, less than 24 hours after approving it. Police Chief Dean Smith said Flock misrepresented that its system does not create heat maps of vehicle movement, which he visually confirmed it does. The council cited ‘additional information’ inconsistent with Flock’s statements and rejected the agreement. The renewal was for 25 cameras at $163,500 over two years. Several council members apologized for their earlier votes.

On April 17, 2026, the Florida Highway Patrol arrested Lindsey Isaacs, 23, on eight felony charges, including three counts of vehicular homicide, for an October 4, 2025 hit-and-run on I-4 that killed three people. A Flock camera had recorded her black Dodge Durango about three miles from the crash. A 911 caller had described a maroon Durango and gave a partial plate that did not match hers, and the struck vehicle bore maroon paint. She spent 13 days in jail. Prosecutors dropped the charges on May 22, 2026, the same day investigators arrested another driver whose maroon Durango had been repaired after the crash. Isaacs filed a federal lawsuit against FHP and two sergeants, alleging they claimed her undamaged vehicle showed crash damage and ignored evidence that would have cleared her. No settlement is reported.

On March 31, 2026 the Denver City Council voted 7-6 to approve a one-year, $150,000 contract with Axon for 50 fixed license plate reader cameras, hours after Flock Safety finished removing its more than 100 cameras from city streets. The council president broke a 6-6 tie. Denver had ended its Flock contract after public backlash over privacy and revelations that the company could share data with federal immigration authorities. Opponents on the council argued the vote came before the city’s surveillance task force had written guardrails. Axon had severed its API integration with Flock on July 24, 2025. In July 2026 Douglas County approved a nearly $22.8 million Axon package replacing its 50 Flock cameras with 100 Axon Outpost cameras plus drones.

The Ithaca Common Council voted unanimously to end the city’s contract with Flock Safety, stopping the Ithaca Police Department’s use of the company’s AI-powered license plate cameras. The $70,000 contract was funded entirely by a state grant meant to combat gun violence. Council members and activists cited distrust of Flock, the volume of data collected, and concerns that data could be used in federal immigration enforcement. The city is unlikely to recoup the grant funds. The vote came just over two years after the initial contract was approved.

On March 3, 2026, the El Paso City Council had on its agenda File 26-0314, a discussion and action item directing the city manager to refrain from renewing existing agreements or entering new agreements with Flock Group Inc., operating as Flock Safety, for automated license plate recognition technology, and to refrain from using future grant awards or city funds for similar technology. The item excludes user-operated handheld or vehicle-mounted license plate readers for parking enforcement.

In March 2026, a report stated that stolen police logins are exposing Flock Safety’s automated license plate readers to hackers. A DEA agent was found to have used a local officer’s password to access the camera system without authorization. Flock Safety lacks robust internal protections, and many agencies fail to enforce multi-factor authentication. Lawmakers are demanding immediate accountability and reform. Data from these cameras covers approximately 70% of Americans, raising privacy and security concerns.

An automated license plate reader system flaw in Ventura County, California, allowed federal and out-of-state agencies to query local ALPR data in violation of state law. The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office audited the system on Feb. 11 and found over 364,000 searches by out-of-state agencies between Feb. 19 and March 19, 2025. Other agencies reported similar access: Port Hueneme logged 798,000 out-of-state queries, Oxnard two, Ventura two. The feature called ‘National Lookup’ had been inadvertently enabled. Oxnard suspended its Flock system; others continued using it with new safeguards.

On February 26, 2026, the law firms Gibbs Mura and Milberg filed a class action against Flock Safety in San Francisco Superior Court, alleging the company violated California’s ALPR Privacy Act (SB 34, 2015) by letting out-of-state and federal agencies, including ICE, CBP, the FBI and the ATF, query California cameras. An amended complaint was filed April 3, 2026. The suit cites San Francisco police cameras being searched by outside agencies more than 1.6 million times in about seven months and a Ventura County audit that found roughly 364,000 unauthorized searches. The Ventura audit, reported in February 2026, found that the National Lookup feature had been reactivated after the sheriff’s office disabled it in 2023; 299 of the queries were explicitly linked to immigration enforcement, and Oxnard police suspended their readers. The suit seeks $2,500 per violation.

Coralville City Council voted 3-1 on February 24, 2026 to terminate the city’s contract with Flock Safety for two Automated License Plate Readers and rescind its policy on their use. The contract, valued at $36,000 over two years, had been approved as part of the fiscal year 2026 budget. The termination follows months of public opposition and an inquiry from the Iowa Attorney General’s Office regarding policy compliance with immigration enforcement laws. City Administrator Kelly Hayworth said the readers will be removed within days.

Athens City Council voted 5-2 to reject an expanded drone program for first responders on February 20, 2026. Residents opposed the proposal over civil liberties, immigration enforcement, cost, and surveillance. The city has an existing contract with Flock Safety costing $12,300 for license-plate scanning and camera access. Councilmember Michael Wood said he did not get elected to give up civil liberties. Council plans to revisit civil liberty protections for future drone deployments in committee.

In February 2026, the Lynnwood City Council voted unanimously to cancel its contract with Flock Safety for license plate reader cameras. The cameras, disabled since October, had been the subject of a University of Washington report revealing unauthorized access by out-of-state and federal agencies, including U.S. Border Patrol. Council member Isabel Mata noted that more than 50 people testified in person against the system. The city originally approved the contract in January 2025.

Flock Safety confirmed a data breach that exposed live video from a limited number of its Condor cameras to the internet, allowing unauthorized viewing, access to about a month of archived footage, and deletion of video. The breach was discovered by YouTuber Benn Jordan, who found publicly accessible camera feeds. Flock said the exposure came from tests for carrier compatibility and that it was corrected with security updates. Vero Beach Police Department, in Florida, confirmed it uses the cameras but said it wasn’t impacted.

On January 13, 2026, the Santa Cruz City Council voted 6–1 to terminate the city’s contract with Flock Safety, ending use of the company’s automated license plate readers. The termination takes effect after a 30-day notice, possibly as early as February 12. Councilmember Sonja Brunner voted against. The motion followed data breaches, community pushback, and a recommendation from three councilmembers. It also directed staff to explore future installation of similar technology with stronger privacy safeguards.

The Bend City Council voted to end a pilot program with Flock Safety license-plate reading cameras five months early, citing concerns about data security. The cameras were installed in spring 2025 along Highway 97. Police said the cameras helped recover three stolen vehicles and track a stabbing suspect and a sex offender. Councilor Mike Riley said the contract lacked guarantees about data use and sharing with other governments, especially given Oregon’s sanctuary state status. The city will pay approximately $10,000 for the remainder of the contract even though the cameras are being turned off.

404 Media reported that at least 60 of Flock Safety’s AI-enabled Condor cameras were exposed to the open internet, allowing anyone to watch live feeds, download 30 days of video archives, and change settings without any password or login. The exposed cameras included views of playgrounds and parking lots. Flock Safety said the flaw was a limited misconfiguration on a small number of devices and has since been remedied. The affected Condor Live cameras are not the same model as the license-plate reader cameras used by San Francisco and Oakland police.

Cambridge terminated its contract with Flock Safety on December 10, 2025. The City Council had first approved buying automated license plate readers in February; Flock installed 16 cameras in September. On October 20, the council voted unanimously to suspend police use of the cameras, citing concern that data sharing with federal agencies would violate the city’s sanctuary ordinance. The 16 cameras were deactivated and removed in late October. The city then said two additional cameras had been installed by Flock technicians in late November without the city’s awareness, during the pause. City officials described the episode as a breach of trust and ended the contract.

A network audit of Spokane County Sheriff’s Office Flock cameras revealed that federal and out-of-state agencies conducted over 1,000 immigration-related searches during the first six months of 2025. U.S. Border Patrol made 186 direct searches, and an HSI account made 182. More than 700 searches listed “ICE” as the reason. The searches occurred despite Washington state’s Keep Washington Working Act prohibiting local resources for federal immigration enforcement.

On the evening of December 5, 2025, the Eugene Police Department ended its contract with Flock Safety effective immediately, citing vulnerabilities and limitations affecting operational needs, data security requirements and community expectations. Springfield police announced about an hour later that their cameras would be covered pending removal; Springfield had said in September it would not turn on its 25 cameras, budgeted at $77,000 per year and funded by a $93,000 Oregon Criminal Justice Commission grant, until a community discussion took place. Eugene’s chief later confirmed a Flock camera had been turned on after the city ordered the cameras shut down in October. Eugene’s $342,000 two-year contract was funded by a state grant. City staff removed 55 of Eugene’s 57 cameras by December 19.

On December 4, 2025, the Mountlake Terrace City Council voted unanimously to cancel its two-year contract with Flock Safety, citing community division and public records concerns. The city will still pay $27,000 for the first year of the contract, which was never installed. Mayor Pro Tem Bryan Wahl said the technology “has been weaponized against cities and their residents.” The city appears to be the first in Washington state to fully cancel a Flock contract, though other cities have paused or suspended their programs.

Sen. Ron Wyden and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission urging an investigation into Flock Safety for not requiring multi-factor authentication on its license-plate camera platform. The lawmakers said stolen police logins had been shared online and a Russian cybercrime forum allegedly sold access to Flock logins. Flock said it enabled MFA by default for new customers in November 2024 and that 97% of its law enforcement customers have enabled it.

In November 2025, Skagit County Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Neidzwski ruled that Flock-generated images count as public records under Washington law even if police never download them. The ruling followed public records requests by Oregon man Jose Rodriguez, who submitted 53 requests between September 2024 and October 2025. The decision helped trigger Washington’s Driver Privacy Act, which took effect March 30, 2026, limiting retention and exempting ALPR data from public records requests.

On October 27, 2025, the Hillsborough Board of Commissioners unanimously voted to cancel a two-year, $81,500 contract with Flock Safety for 10 surveillance cameras. The board cited privacy concerns after discovering fine-print provisions allowing Flock to share collected data with third parties under a ‘good faith belief’ that it is necessary. The cameras had been installed the previous month. Commissioner Matt Hughes said the contract ‘allows Flock to override our judgment for theirs.’

On October 3, 2025, California Attorney General Rob Bonta sued the City of El Cajon, alleging the city refused to comply with state law by sharing automated license plate reader data with more than 100 out-of-state law enforcement agencies. California law limits ALPR data sharing to “public agencies,” which the attorney general’s October 2023 bulletin says excludes federal and out-of-state agencies. Since 2024 the office has sent letters to 18 California law enforcement agencies, including sheriff’s offices in Contra Costa, Sacramento and Riverside counties, over possible violations. On January 21, 2026, the attorney general filed a further motion in California v. City of El Cajon. In October 2025 Governor Newsom vetoed a bill that would have added new regulations on license plate readers.

In October 2025, Brandon Upchurch settled his lawsuit against the city of Toledo for $35,000. The suit stemmed from an April 2024 stop in which a Flock Safety license-plate camera misread a ‘7’ as a ‘2’ on his truck’s plate, prompting officers to stop him at gunpoint. A police dog bit him, he was jailed, and charges were later dismissed. The Toledo Police Department issued a verbal reprimand to officer Adrian Wilson for failing to verify the plate before the stop. Upchurch’s attorney said the judge remarked, ‘Flock Flocked up.’

According to an analysis by the Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism at WHRO, law enforcement conducted nearly 3,000 searches related to immigration enforcement on Virginia’s Flock Safety network over a 12-month period. About 9 in 10 searches were by out-of-state agencies. Audit logs from Bridgewater and Mecklenburg County revealed searches using terms such as ICE, ERO, immigration, and deportee. The Warren County Sheriff’s Office had the highest number of immigration-related searches within Virginia; a spokesperson confirmed it conducted them because federal immigration authorities asked. A new state law limiting data sharing took effect in July.

On September 9, 2025 the Sedona City Council voted unanimously to cancel its contract for automated license-plate readers and remove them. South Tucson voted on February 17, 2026 to end its agreement. Staunton, Virginia announced it would cancel its Flock contract. KOMO reported that Mountlake Terrace, Washington ended a $54,000 agreement but remained responsible for the first year’s payment of $27,000 and was negotiating the balance, that Lynnwood terminated a $171,000 contract, and that cities ending grant-funded agreements early could be required to return funds to the grantor. NPR reported that privacy concerns and federal immigration access to local data were driving the cancellations.

On September 8, 2025, The San Francisco Standard reported, based on records it obtained, that out-of-state law enforcement agencies had run more than 1.6 million searches of the San Francisco Police Department’s Flock license plate reader database, including at least 19 searches marked as related to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. California law bars sharing automated license plate reader data with out-of-state agencies for any purpose, and state sanctuary law bars assisting immigration enforcement. The Standard reported that SFPD gave out-of-state agencies direct access between at least August 2024 and February 2025, and that nearly 4,000 out-of-state agencies searched the data. EFF and the ACLU wrote to SFPD that month demanding it stop. A city audit reported in June 2026 found hundreds of additional illegal searches, including improper use by federal agencies.

On August 26, 2025, Evanston ordered Flock Safety to deactivate its 19 license plate reader cameras and issued a 30-day termination notice, effective September 26, after an Illinois Secretary of State audit found Flock had let U.S. Customs and Border Protection access Illinois camera data in violation of state law. Flock challenged the termination. In September the company reinstalled stationary cameras without city authorization, and the city covered the cameras pending removal. The five-year contract, approved January 8, 2024, at $48,500 per year, runs to January 29, 2029; the city paid the first two years and would owe $145,500 for the remaining three if the contract is upheld. As of March 2026 no lawsuit had been filed, the city had not paid its 2026 fee, and the final two cameras were removed after a RoundTable inquiry.

Flock Safety paused pilot programs with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security Investigations on August 25, 2025. Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias said an audit found CBP had accessed Illinois data, calling it “a clear violation of the state law.” Flock CEO Garrett Langley said parameters were unclear. Flock added flag terms including “abortion,” “immigration” and “ICE” in late June. Federal agencies can no longer make blanket statewide searches.

On August 25, 2025, Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias announced that an audit of 12 local law enforcement agencies found Flock Safety in violation of state law. The audit found the company lacked proper safeguards on data sharing and had been running a pilot program that gave U.S. Customs and Border Protection access to cameras on Illinois roads. An Illinois law passed two years ago prohibits sharing plate reader data for purposes including investigating immigration status or interfering with reproductive health care. Giannoulias ordered the federal agency’s access to Illinois cameras shut off, and Flock paused its pilot with CBP and other federal agencies nationwide. Flock’s CEO said the company “didn’t create distinct permissions and protocols in the Flock system to ensure local compliance for federal agency users.” A follow-up finding on September 5 named the Forest Park Police Department for sharing data with CBP.

In June 2025, Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias audited Flock’s license plate reader data sharing. The audit found U.S. Border Patrol searched Elmwood Park data 698 times in June 2025, 1,516 times in July 2025, and 862 times in August 2025. Police departments in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia also searched the data for ICE. On August 25, 2025, the Secretary of State’s office announced the findings and that Giannoulias had ordered Flock to shut off Border Patrol access to all Illinois cameras. Flock revoked Border Patrol access nationwide by that month.

On April 8, 2025, the Scarsdale Village Board approved a $2.1 million contract with Flock Safety for automated license plate readers, live-view surveillance cameras and drone-as-first-responder technology, without public notice. Communications obtained by Drop Site News showed village contact with Flock dating to January 15, 2025. Residents began appearing at the April 22 board meeting, and a petition signed by 449 residents urged the board to pause the project and hold public forums. The village was notified in early July that its grant application for the project had been denied. On August 4 the police chief submitted a memo recommending against proceeding given the lack of federal funding, and the village cancelled the contract on August 6.

On June 11, 2025, the Illinois Secretary of State’s office notified the Mount Prospect Police Department that other law enforcement agencies had conducted 262 immigration-related searches of the village’s automated license plate reader data. The department said it had been unaware of the searches until notified. The village also learned that the Johnson County, Texas, sheriff’s office had used Flock Safety’s National Lookup feature, accessing Mount Prospect’s data without a data-sharing agreement. Illinois law prohibits using plate reader data to investigate immigration status. Mount Prospect said it has since disabled nationwide access and revoked access for all out-of-state agencies.

In June 2025, Morristown, Tennessee, police stopped a grandfather and grandmother as they drove to a doctor’s appointment with their 3-year-old granddaughter. The grandmother’s Ford Expedition carried a vanity plate reading ‘LOVEY’; a Ford F-150 reported stolen in Claiborne County carried a plate reading ‘L0VEY’ with a zero. A license plate reader treated the two as a match. Officers drew guns on the grandfather as he got out; the grandmother said a laser sight rested on her chest while she told officers there was a baby in the car. Officers found the discrepancy and released them. The Institute for Justice lists the case as a Flock camera ‘O’ for ‘0’ misread among at least 27 ALPR-error stops since 2018. No lawsuit or payment is reported.

A public records request to the Danville, Illinois, police department, obtained by 404 Media, showed that local and state police searched automatic license plate reader data more than 4,000 times for immigration-related reasons between June 1, 2024, and May 5, 2025. Illinois law prohibits using ALPR data for immigration enforcement. The records indicate informal access by ICE to camera networks across more than 5,000 communities nationwide. The technology provider Flock Safety operates over 40,000 ALPR cameras.

On May 9, 2025, a Johnson County, Texas, sheriff’s deputy used Flock Safety’s National Lookup feature to search for a woman’s license plate across more than 83,000 cameras in 6,809 law enforcement networks in multiple states. The reason logged for the search was “had an abortion, search for female.” After 404 Media reported the search, the sheriff and Flock described it as a welfare check for a missing person. Court records obtained by EFF showed deputies had opened a death investigation of a non-viable fetus, logged evidence of a self-managed abortion and consulted prosecutors about possible charges. The search reached data in Illinois and Washington; Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias reportedly called the use illegal. Two members of Congress wrote to Flock’s CEO in August 2025 about the episode.

On May 5, 2025, the Denver City Council voted down a two-year, $666,000 contract extension with Flock Safety. All council members present voted no, citing concern the cameras could be used for federal immigration enforcement. Mayor Mike Johnston’s office had asked the council to reject the proposal. The city said it would keep the camera system operating while it created a task force. The system photographed about 2 million license plates per month.

In May 2025, 404 Media reported that local police departments around the country were performing lookups in Flock’s nationwide license plate reader system for immigration-related purposes and other ICE investigations. ICE had no formal contract with Flock; instead, federal officials asked state and local agencies to run searches on their behalf. The searches were identified because users had typed reasons such as “ICE” or “illegal immigration” into the required search-reason field. A policy tracker citing the data counted more than 4,000 lookups conducted at the behest of the federal government for immigration purposes. Subsequent Virginia audit logs from Bridgewater and Mecklenburg County showed nearly 3,000 searches using the terms “ICE,” “ERO,” “immigration” and “deportee.”

Detroit agreed to pay $35,000 to settle a federal lawsuit after police used license plate reader data to wrongly detain Isoke Robinson and her son in September 2023. Police impounded Robinson’s 2013 Dodge Charger for over three weeks. An internal affairs investigation found officers ‘improperly identified’ the vehicle and that it was not released timely; some officers were referred for possible discipline. The city admitted no wrongdoing. The suit alleged police worked backward from reader data, using the car’s description rather than a license plate number. The ACLU said the case highlights concerns about the use of the city’s 100-plus camera system.

On February 27, 2025, the Savannah City Council considered authorizing the city manager to rescind the award for a Real-Time Crime Center Public Safety Platform from Fusus Corporation and re-award to Axon Enterprise, Inc. in an amount not to exceed $150,000. The original award to Fusus was made on July 27, 2023. Fusus was bought by Axon. The platform would unify Savannah Police Department data and operations, provide real-time access to over 1,000 cameras, integrate ALPRs, Flock, and Shotspotter applications, and create a voluntary community camera registry. The purchase is sole source from Axon.

In February 2025, Flock Safety’s lawyers sent Will Freeman, creator of the open-source DeFlock map of automated license-plate readers, a letter demanding he cease and desist all use of the name “DEFLOCK” or any variation and refrain from adopting marks likely to cause dilution or tarnishment of the Flock marks. DeFlock crowdsources the locations of ALPRs from Flock and other companies to publicise the technology’s spread. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, representing Freeman pro bono, rejected the demand, writing that it had no legal basis and that the project sits well within its First Amendment rights, pointing to carve-outs in federal anti-dilution law for noncommercial use and for criticism or commentary on the mark owner. State of Surveillance later reported DeFlock had mapped about 90,000 cameras. No litigation or public cost was reported.

Security researcher Matt Brown found that more than 150 Motorola ALPR cameras were misconfigured and exposed live video feeds and vehicle data on the public internet without authentication. WIRED confirmed the exposure by analyzing data streams from 37 IP addresses across over a dozen U.S. cities, capturing nearly 4,000 vehicles in 20 minutes. Motorola Solutions confirmed the exposures and said it was working with customers to restore configurations and would add security hardening in a firmware update.

In January 2025, a Drug Enforcement Administration agent used a Palos Heights, Illinois police officer’s Flock Safety password to search a license plate for an immigration violation. Using license plate readers for immigration enforcement is illegal in Illinois. The police department changed the password after discovering the misuse. The incident was reported in audits and agency statements released in 2025.

In January 2025, a security researcher bought a Motorola ReaperHD license-plate-reader camera on eBay and found that many identical live cameras were misconfigured to stream colour video, infrared video and vehicle data including plate numbers to the open internet, viewable in real time with no username or password. The researcher used text from a 404 error page to locate exposed devices; more than 150 appeared in a public internet-scanning tool, and roughly 170 unencrypted ALPR streams were reported found. A tool published on GitHub logs plates, make, model and colour from exposed cameras to a CSV with a vehicle image. Motorola confirmed the exposures and said it was working with affected customers to close the open access. The ReaperHD is a legacy device whose sales were discontinued in June 2022. No public remediation cost was reported.

The Sacramento County Grand Jury’s 2023-2024 report found that the Sacramento Police Department shares automated license plate reader (ALPR) data with law enforcement agencies in Washington, Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona. The Grand Jury concluded this practice violates California Senate Bill 34, which prohibits sharing ALPR data with out-of-state entities. The report notes that SPD representatives met with the Attorney General’s staff to discuss compliance, but the Grand Jury still concluded that SPD is not complying with SB 34.

On April 11, 2024, Toledo police officer Adrian Wilson stopped Brandon Upchurch after a Flock license plate reader misread the plate JLL 7637 on his red Dodge pickup as JLL 7362, a tan Chevrolet Malibu reported stolen. Wilson read the actual plate to dispatch, confirming the mismatch, but continued the stop. Backup officers arrived, and a police dog bit Upchurch. He was charged with obstructing and resisting arrest; charges were later dismissed. An internal investigation cleared the officers of wrongdoing regarding the dog attack, but Wilson received a verbal reprimand for failing to verify the plate. Upchurch sued for at least $75,000; a settlement has been agreed but awaits Toledo City Council approval.

In April 2024, a Flock camera in Toledo misread the number “7” on Brandon Upchurch’s license plate as “2”, matching it to a stolen vehicle. Police stopped Upchurch and deployed a dog, which mauled him. He was arrested and later released. Charges of obstructing official business and resisting arrest were dismissed. Upchurch filed a civil lawsuit and settled for $35,000 with no admission of wrongdoing.

On February 8, 2024 Flock Safety issued a press release headlined ‘Flock Safety is Instrumental in Solving 10% of Reported Crime in U.S.’ The release analyzed crime-clearance data from 123 law enforcement agencies collected between April and June 2023. In March 2024, 404 Media reported the study was conducted by Flock employees with oversight from two academic researchers, one of whom said ‘I personally would have done things much differently’ and that the police data was ‘too varied and incomplete’ for meaningful statistical analysis. The researcher also said the two were brought into the study late in the process. The findings drew significant criticism from other criminologists.

On February 5, 2024, the family’s attorney announced that the City of Aurora, Colorado, had agreed to a $1.9 million settlement with Brittney Gilliam, who was pulled over in 2020 with four children in the car and ordered out at gunpoint. Officers had believed the car was stolen. The plate number matched a stolen motorcycle, but the motorcycle was registered in Montana and the car carried Colorado plates. Reports say an automated license plate reader flagged the plate and officers did not check the state before conducting a felony stop. Children were handcuffed on the pavement. Video of the stop circulated widely. The city paid the settlement from public funds. Reports do not name the ALPR vendor.

In February 2024, Steven Melvin, an Iraq War veteran, was stopped at gunpoint in Lake Wylie, South Carolina, after a Flock Safety license plate reader misread one letter on his plate, flagging his car as stolen. Deputy Kyle Brogden held him at gunpoint for over five minutes while verifying the error. Internal records show the cameras had correctly read the same plate 13 times before. Melvin was released, no charges filed. On June 29, 2026, he filed suit in state court; the case was removed to federal court. The sheriff’s office seeks dismissal, arguing ‘a mistake of fact leading to a seizure under the Fourth Amendment does not amount to a Constitutional violation.’ The case is pending in federal court.

Seattle’s Office of Inspector General published a surveillance technology usage review covering ALPR deployments in 2021 and 2022. The report found 976 misreads in 2021 and 948 in 2022, approximately one misread for every five unverified hits. It documented two erroneous vehicle stops caused by outdated or misleading hotlist information. In one, a stolen license plate had been swapped onto a similarly described vehicle, leading to a firearms-drawn stop of an innocent driver. In another, officers stopped a vehicle reported stolen but recovered earlier; the recovery had not been recorded. The OIG recommended that SPD develop a deployment strategy that accounts for disproportionality in data collection.

In July 2023, the city of Charlotte paid $10,000 to settle a wrongful arrest claim from a woman. Police used an automated license plate reader from NDI Technologies in June 2021 to link her car to a suspect with a similar name, leading to a brief detention. The city admitted no wrongdoing.

In February 2023, the City of South Tucson, Arizona canceled its contract with Flock Safety and removed its automated license plate reader cameras. The decision came after months of debate over privacy and public safety. The city is one of 109 communities listed in the DeFlock The USA cancellation tracker that have canceled Flock contracts or banned ALPRs.

On Dec. 21, 2022, the city of Fayetteville, North Carolina, agreed to pay $60,000 to settle Jacqueline McNeill’s lawsuit alleging civil rights violations by police detectives. McNeill was arrested July 20, 2022, after license plate reader technology misidentified her vehicle as involved in a violent crime. She was held for several hours before detectives realized they had photographed two similar cars and arrested the wrong person. As part of the settlement, the department made no admission of liability, retired Police Chief Gina Hawkins provided a written apology and said the incident would lead to better training.

On July 23, 2022, Española, New Mexico, police stopped a car driven by Jaclynn Gonzales, then 21, with her 12-year-old sister as a passenger, after a Flock Safety camera flagged the plate as belonging to a vehicle stolen from Rio Rancho. The plate ended in a 2, which the camera read as a 7; the two plates differed by one character. A sergeant ordered Gonzales out at gunpoint before dispatch had confirmed the plate. An officer asked the child whether she had weapons, handcuffed her and placed her in a patrol vehicle. Officers then checked the plate and VIN and found the mismatch. Both sisters sued the city in state district court on January 3, 2024. The Rio Grande Sun reported the city settled the case in June 2025, paying $20,000 to each sister, part of eight settlements totaling more than $1.3 million.

On June 13, 2022, Norton City Council rejected a proposal to purchase 15 Flock Safety license-plate readers for $80,250. Council member Charlotte Whipkey voted against the system, stating ‘There’s no laws governing this.’ The proposal had been sought by Police Chief John Dalessandro.

In June 2022, Marin County and its sheriff settled a lawsuit brought by three community activists with ACLU of Northern California and EFF backing. The complaint said the sheriff’s office had, since 2014, shared automated license plate reader data with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, other federal agencies and hundreds of out-of-state agencies, in violation of SB 34 and the California Values Act. Under the settlement, the sheriff agreed to stop sharing the data with agencies outside California.

On December 22, 2021, New Hanover County Chief Financial Officer Lisa Wurtzbacher told commissioners that the sole-source contract with Flock Safety for license plate recognition cameras would not proceed. The county had approved the award on December 6, but later learned that Axon had a minority investment in Flock and that other vendors could integrate with Axon’s evidence.com. Wurtzbacher said the county would ‘change direction with this sole source contract and, instead, pursue bidding this service out.’ The contract was never signed.

In April 2021, Jason Burkleo was driving to his security job in Atherton, California, when the town’s automated license plate reader misread his dirt-obscured plate, reading the letters ‘H’ as ‘M’, and matched it to a reported stolen vehicle. Police treated the alert as a high-risk felony stop, ordered him at gunpoint to throw his keys out the window, get out and lie on his stomach, and handcuffed him. Burkleo sued the police department and the officers, alleging unreasonable seizure and excessive force. The case settled for $45,000. EFF lists the case among documented ALPR misreads that ended with guns drawn on innocent drivers.

In June 2019, U.S. Customs and Border Protection subcontractor Perceptics was breached in what CBP called a malicious cyberattack. Images of travellers’ faces and license plates, contracting documents and other data were made publicly available on the internet. About 184,000 traveller images from CBP’s facial-recognition pilot were compromised, and at least 19 were posted to the dark web. The attackers also obtained contractual documents, program-management documents, emails, system configurations, schematics and implementation documentation related to CBP license-plate-reader programs. Perceptics had downloaded sensitive CBP data from an unencrypted device and transferred it to the company’s network, violating DHS security requirements. Perceptics was suspended from federal contracts, subcontracts, grants and loans in June 2019; the suspension was lifted in September 2019. A September 2020 DHS Inspector General report found CBP did not adequately safeguard the data, though no federal networks were compromised.

The ACLU released documents obtained via a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit showing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operates under a $6.1 million contract with Vigilant Solutions for access to a vast automated license plate reader database. Over 9,000 ICE officers have access to more than 5 billion license plate data points collected by private businesses and additional records from law enforcement. More than 80 local agencies in over a dozen states agreed to share license plate location information with ICE, including agencies in Union City, California, a sanctuary city. The contract runs through September 2020.

On November 25, 2018, Contra Costa County sheriff’s deputies stopped Brian Hofer, chair of Oakland’s Privacy Advisory Commission, and his brother at gunpoint after an automated license plate reader alerted that their rental car was stolen. The Getaround Kia had been stolen from San Jose in October and recovered, but the recovery had not been cleared from the hot list. Deputies released the pair after sorting out the record; no one was booked. Hofer filed a federal civil rights suit against the deputies, alleging warrantless search and excessive force. KTVU reported the sheriff’s office paid him $49,500 in an August settlement. EFF later cited the case as an example of an alert generated by outdated data rather than a camera misread.

On March 30, 2009, San Francisco police pulled over Denise Green, a 47-year-old black woman, after the department’s automated license plate reader misread her plate and matched it to a stolen vehicle. Between four and six officers pointed guns at her and ordered her out of the car. After she was searched and her car searched, the police let her go. The ACLU later reported the reader had misread a ‘3’ as a ‘7’. A district court found against her; the Ninth Circuit reinstated the case in May 2014. In 2015 the Board of Supervisors passed Ordinance 181-15 authorizing a $495,000 settlement of her lawsuit.