Transparency

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.

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.

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.

Craig Harriman filed a third lawsuit in Aroostook County Superior Court against the town of Houlton, Maine, alleging officials have not released public data from surveillance cameras removed earlier in 2026. The filing follows multiple Freedom of Access Act requests and two previous court appeals. Harriman seeks the immediate production of remaining records, including emails about the town’s facial recognition video surveillance system, and written explanations for any withheld documents. The town previously depleted its legal budget in 2025 handling FOAA lawsuits.

On September 9, 2026, the St. Paul City Council withdrew resolution RES 26-1399, which would have authorized the police department to apply for a $200,000 federal grant to add three docked drones. Council President Rebecca Noecker said the withdrawal was due to unanswered questions about data storage and flight locations. The legislative file shows 38 written public comments, most opposed. The department had launched three Skydio X10 drones on May 30; on September 7, one located a missing child in a pond. The department had not published the program’s cost.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

The Metro Nashville Police Department’s ‘Drone as First Responder’ trial program ended Friday, after operating for 30 flight days since May 26. Police spokesperson Brooke Reese confirmed the program ran on a loan basis with Skydio and without a signed contract. Councilmember Emily Benedict said the rollout involved ‘irregular timelines and murky legal footing,’ and that ‘It’s not right that taxpayer dollars are being handled this loosely.’ New legislation, BL2026-1498, would narrow the ‘temporary basis’ exemption that let the program launch without council vote, limiting such deployments to 30 days unless approved by resolution after a public hearing.

On August 4, 2026, Lawyers for Civil Rights filed a lawsuit in Suffolk Superior Court against the Boston Police Department and the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. The suit seeks the release of body-camera and dashboard-camera footage from a fatal police shooting in Roxbury on March 11. Both agencies denied public records requests, citing an investigatory exemption. The lawsuit argues this exemption does not outweigh the public interest in the footage. It asks the court to order release and award attorney’s fees.

Seattle Police Department fired a public records employee after an audit found she arbitrarily pushed back deadlines, lied to requestors, and allowed 911 audio recordings to be destroyed. The employee, hired in 1999, was terminated after a manager found 60 requests with serious issues, including at least two dozen bodycam requests never submitted for redaction. She told requestors she was waiting for a video specialist, which was false. In 22 requests, she failed to preserve 911 audio, which is deleted after 90 days. She claimed unawareness of the retention schedule. The city could face a seven-figure settlement under the Public Records Act.

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, 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.

On July 30, 2026, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) still had not responded to a request for body-camera footage made more than 13 months earlier, according to a lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Nevada. The request concerned footage from a June 11, 2025, protest. The suit alleges LVMPD demanded a $6,811.33 upfront payment, charged about $85 per hour in one invoice, then switched to $5.67 per minute and later $5.80 per minute for the same footage. The ACLU seeks civil penalties under Nevada’s Public Records Act.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Delaware settled a lawsuit against Dewey Beach after the town voluntarily released police body-worn camera footage that had been initially denied in response to a public records request. The lawsuit, filed in Delaware Superior Court in March 2026, alleged the town improperly denied the request. The incident occurred in summer 2025, involving young people who reported possible racial discrimination; none were charged. The ACLU argued Delaware law allows access when there is no ongoing criminal investigation. On June 4, 2026, the ACLU announced the footage was provided and the case settled. Andrew Bernstein, ACLU-DE Civic Engagement Counsel, said, “Body-worn cameras only provide transparency and accountability to the extent that the public can actually access the footage.”

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 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.

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.

In a 4-3 vote, the Portland City Council rejected a $45,000 police drone program. The proposal would have used drones for missing person searches, standoffs, and crime scene reconstructions, with search warrants required for private property and no facial recognition. Residents cited privacy and cost concerns. Police can still borrow drones from neighboring departments. The proposal will be reconsidered in December.

Brooklyn Park City Council voted 5-0 to add $4.6 million to its Axon contract for a Drone as First Responder program. The 10-year contract total is now $12.4 million. The program includes 10 Skydio drones housed in five docking stations that self-dispatch to reported crimes. Footage will be deleted after three days, and a transparency portal will show deployments. Costs are covered until 2028.

On October 10, 2025 California’s governor signed Senate Bill 524, which requires police officers to disclose when generative AI tools such as Axon’s Draft One were used to write a report. The disclosure must appear at the bottom of each page of the report. Departments must preserve audit trails, including the original AI-generated draft and the body-camera footage or audio that informed it, so that judges, defense attorneys and auditors can see which portions were written by the officer and which by the software. The law bars vendors from selling or sharing the information agencies provide to the AI. It took effect January 1, 2026. By design, Draft One does not retain an edit log showing who wrote what.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement began a contract worth up to $9.2 million with Clearview AI for facial recognition on Sept. 5, days before launching its ‘Midway Blitz’ enforcement operation in the Chicago area. Illinois law enforcement agencies are barred from using Clearview because of a BIPA settlement, but the ban does not apply to federal agencies. The contract is the largest among nearly $10 million in federal contracts with Clearview, which also include deals with the FBI, U.S. Marshals, Army, and Customs and Border Protection. No federal law governs the technology’s use.

In September 2025, an $875,000 settlement in the Evans v. City of San Diego case was approved after an unarmed man was shot with rubber bullets and attacked by a K-9. The separate First Amendment Coalition v. City of San Diego lawsuit remains pending, alleging the city withheld body-worn camera footage required for release within 45 days under California’s SB 1421 and AB 748.

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 July 10, 2025 the Electronic Frontier Foundation published an investigation concluding that Axon’s Draft One, which drafts police reports from body-camera audio, is designed in a way that frustrates audits. Reviewing police reports, emails, procurement documents, department policies, software settings and Axon’s own manuals and marketing, EFF found it is often impossible to tell which parts of a report were generated by AI and which were written by an officer, because Draft One does not retain the initial AI-generated draft. Administrators cannot produce a list of all Draft One activity across a department; they can only inspect an individual officer’s audit log or a single evidence item. An Axon representative told one agency there is no filter for Draft One reports. The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, which requires a disclosure on each report, isolated more than 3,000 Draft One reports generated between December 2024 and March 2025.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation published a guide for journalists, advocates, and community members on obtaining records about Axon’s Draft One, an AI system that generates police report narratives from body-worn camera audio. The guide includes sample public records request language for reports, audit logs, settings, procurement documents, training materials, evaluations, and communications with Axon.

In July 2025, the district attorney’s office in King County, Washington, banned AI-generated police reports, citing ‘legitimate concerns about some of the products on the market now.’ The Electronic Frontier Foundation’s investigation found that Axon’s Draft One tool does not retain drafts or records of AI use, making reports difficult to audit. The EFF said the tool ‘seems deliberately designed to avoid audits that could provide any accountability to the public.’

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.”

In May 2025, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office agreed to pay $200,000 to settle a federal civil rights suit by Randal Reid, with the payment finalized in federal court in New Orleans. Reid was stopped by DeKalb County police outside Atlanta the day after Thanksgiving 2022 on warrants from Jefferson and East Baton Rouge parishes accusing him of using stolen credit cards to buy about $15,000 in designer purses. He had never been to Louisiana and spent six days in jail before the warrants were withdrawn. According to the suit, the sole basis for identifying him was a Clearview AI facial-recognition match run by a sheriff’s detective; the office had awarded Clearview a $25,000 contract in 2019. The arrest affidavit did not mention facial recognition, citing only ‘a credible source.’ The suit alleged the office had no formal policy or training on the technology despite using it since at least 2019.

The Syracuse Common Council withdrew three drone-related expenditures from its agenda on March 19, 2025, after the police department failed to provide a governing policy. The items included two Axon contract renewals for software on existing SWAT drones and a new drone-as-first-responder program with Axon. Councilors said the department did not answer detailed questions during a Public Safety Committee meeting. The council previously approved $250,000 in November for the drone program. The council removed the items without voting, citing a lack of transparency and information.

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.

In September 2024, the King County, Washington, prosecutor’s office said it would not accept police reports drafted with the help of AI, after local law enforcement agencies expressed interest in using Axon’s Draft One tool. The office said using the tool would “likely result in many of your officers approving Axon drafted narratives with unintentional errors in them,” according to an email to police chiefs. Axon said it is committed to collaboration with police agencies, prosecutors, and other stakeholders to guide the responsible evolution of Draft One.

On May 28, 2024, Axon told Lafayette, Indiana police that Draft One AI reports would include a disclosure header by default, but that it could be easily turned off. Emails obtained via public records request show the department then disabled the disclosure, making it impossible to independently identify AI-written reports. Axon’s software also does not track which portions of reports were AI-generated. Captain Brian Gossard wrote in July 2024 that he could “almost guarantee” AI reports have been used in plea deals.

In spring 2024, the California Supreme Court refused to hear Chula Vista’s appeal, affirming an appellate ruling that the city’s blanket refusal to disclose police drone video was too broad. The case began in 2021 when La Prensa publisher Art Castañares filed a public records request for drone footage. The ruling sets a statewide precedent affecting over a dozen California cities using or exploring first-responder drones. Castañares said, ‘Our lawsuit created a statewide legal precedent that improves the public’s access to police records that agencies have tried to shield from disclosure.’

On December 5, 2023, the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office stated that Dallas police deleted body camera videos from 2016–2021 due to retention policies, potentially affecting thousands of cases. A March notification led to a review of 113 trial cases involving complainant deaths; 572 of nearly 9,000 video files had been deleted. A November 2022 review found about 52,000 digital files improperly categorized. DPD increased retention to a two-year minimum and added staff. The DA’s office said no deleted video had yet proven material.

The Seattle Police Department cancelled its contract with Truleo, a firm that uses artificial intelligence to analyze body-camera video, on Feb. 7, 2023. The department had renewed the two-year, $400,000 contract on Jan. 15 after a trial showed promise. Chief Operating Officer Brian Maxey cancelled it after privacy concerns and criticism from the police union. The department had spent $220,500 of public funds on the contract, which had not been recouped as of March. The cancellation is under scrutiny following a recording of a police union official making comments about a woman killed by an officer.

In late 2022, Chesterfield County’s automated record deletion system purged police radio recordings related to Charlotte Carter’s arrests, including communications one hour before and after each arrest. Carter had filed a FOIA request in November 2022 seeking those records, along with a lawsuit challenging a $24,000 cost estimate. The deletions occurred after the FOIA petition was filed but before the county disclosed the records no longer existed. In March 2026, Carter’s attorney moved for sanctions against the county and county attorney Julie Seyfarth. Trial arguments are scheduled for June 2026.

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.

The Lens investigation found that the New Orleans Real Time Crime Center cost at least $10.4 million since 2017, based on confirmed purchase orders and payroll records. The figure includes $6.1 million in spending on equipment and services from Cox and vendors Active Solutions, Motorola Solutions, and LaTech, plus $4.3 million in payroll for 26 employees from 2017 through July 2021. The Lens reported that the true total is likely higher because the city provided incomplete and inaccurate records, and the city said it could not isolate RTCC expenditures from other Homeland Security spending.

In July 2021, Sam Aguiar, an attorney for Breonna Taylor’s family, filed a lawsuit against the Louisville Metro Police Department. The suit alleges that LMPD may have withheld body-camera footage from the night Taylor was killed on March 13, 2020, and that authorities may have presented misinformation about the existence of such footage. The lawsuit states officers were issued Axon body cameras programmed to activate automatically, and requests release of body-camera information under Kentucky’s public records law. The article notes Louisville had agreed to a $12 million settlement with Taylor’s family in 2020.

Baltimore’s Board of Estimates voted unanimously Wednesday to cancel the city’s contract for aerial surveillance planes operated by Persistent Surveillance Systems. The planes had flown their final Baltimore flight on Oct. 31, 2020. Lisa Walden, a city attorney representing the Baltimore Police Department, said allowing the contract to continue would be ‘less transparent’ and that the city is working to delete 85% of collected data, retaining 15% for ongoing investigations. The cancellation came as the city faced an ACLU lawsuit over the program. Mayor Brandon Scott said preliminary reviews showed no significant difference between crimes investigated with the use of the planes and those without.

The Hayward City Council postponed a vote on the police department’s proposal to purchase four drones. City staff pulled the item after discussion about public vetting and privacy policy. Councilmember Al Mendall said the public should comment on managing such technologies. The police department estimated the initial cost of the drones and up to eight operating licenses at up to $50,000. The department had sought the drones for more than a year; a council infrastructure committee had recommended approval in October 2019 but urged more public discussion. The Alameda County Sheriff’s Department has used drones for five years; Union City and Newark also have drone programs.

Brookhaven, Georgia, approved funding for the Brookhaven Police Department’s UAS unit, making it the first city in the Southeast to adopt a drone first-responder program. The unit will consist of four drones deployed to witness crimes, document scenes, and provide aerial views. The program costs $83,700 in its first year plus $22,600 annually, funded by coronavirus relief funds. Police estimate drone response costs about 10% of dispatching an officer and patrol vehicle. Drones stream HD video to the department’s crime center and have thermal imaging. The department will develop policy preventing intentional recording where privacy is expected.

Chula Vista Police expanded its Drone as First Responder program, adding a second launch site atop Bayview Behavioral Health Hospital. The addition extends drone coverage to the 17 square miles of the city west of Interstate 805, an area responsible for 70 percent of 911 calls. Since the program launched in October 2017, drones have been dispatched 1,509 times and assisted in 224 arrests. The department said expanding coverage citywide would cost about $600,000, but no funding source has been identified. Officials cited privacy measures, including a publicly accessible website tracking drone flight paths.