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Flock Safety’s license-plate cameras matter, but the camera itself is only the starting point. Automated license-plate readers (ALPRs) turn passing vehicles into time- and location-stamped records that can be searched; who can search or share those records, how long they remain available, and what oversight applies determine how far that surveillance can reach.
What are ALPRs, and how do they turn a passing car into searchable data?
An ALPR camera captures an image of a vehicle and its license plate, along with vehicle characteristics. Software associates a detection with a time and place, creating a record that can be searched later. The Congressional Research Service (CRS) describes how law enforcement uses the technology; the Electronic Frontier Foundation explains how camera images become searchable vehicle-location data.
That changes the nature of an observation. A person who sees a car pass a particular camera knows only that it was there at that moment. A searchable system can retain many such detections, making it possible to look for a vehicle across places and times. Because cameras can record passing traffic without first identifying a driver or suspect, the records may include people who are not suspected of a crime.
Can police track a car across different cities?
They may be able to search detections from multiple places if the records are available through shared systems or other authorized access. Aggregating records can help investigators trace a vehicle’s movements over time, but the presence of a camera in one city does not by itself establish who can search data from another. The answer depends on the agencies’ sharing settings, system access, and applicable policies.
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In its 2025 Data for Justice Project, the ACLU of Massachusetts describes Flock-sharing choices that range from no sharing, to sharing with named departments, to statewide or broader network access. The project also says documents it obtained showed a network of more than 7,000 agencies and organizations. That is the project’s reported network figure, not an independently audited count of agencies actively searching every other agency’s data.
How long do police keep ALPR data?
There is no single retention period that can be inferred from a camera’s brand alone. Retention is a separate policy question from what the camera collects and who may search it: records might be deleted on a default schedule, retained longer under a permitted setting, or handled differently under a local policy or contract.
An ACLU comparison of ALPR vendors says leading vendors generally let customers retain data as long as they like, while describing a different default and approval process for Flock. Those are the ACLU’s vendor-policy findings, and settings or terms may change. For a particular deployment, check the agency’s current written policy and contract rather than assuming a vendor-level description establishes the local retention period.
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How big is the ALPR network?
Published figures refer to different dates and measures, so they should not be added together or treated as a single audited count:
- The ACLU of Massachusetts estimated nearly 90,000 Flock cameras nationwide as of July 2025. The figure is the organization’s estimate in its 2025 project, not an independently audited camera count. The same project says more than 80 Massachusetts police departments had contracted for Flock ALPR technology.
- In an August 2026 analysis, the ACLU attributed a figure of more than 120,000 ALPRs to Flock. This is a later, separately attributed deployment figure, not a revision that should be silently substituted for the 2025 estimate. Read the ACLU analysis.
- The Associated Press reported that, since the start of 2026, more than 50 jurisdictions had canceled, suspended, rejected, or deactivated deployments, attributing the count to a DeFlock tracker. The total covers several kinds of decisions and is not a count of cameras removed. Read the AP report.
CRS also reports survey findings from the Bureau of Justice Statistics about agency use—not camera totals or the proportion of residents monitored. The survey found ALPR use at nearly 90% of sheriffs’ offices with 500 or more sworn deputies and 100% of police departments serving over one million residents, compared with roughly 20% of sheriffs’ offices and nearly 22% of police departments overall. CRS’s July 2025 report provides the survey context.
Why is Flock only one part of a broader surveillance system?
Police technology is a market, not a single camera network. The ACLU describes major companies selling ALPRs alongside surveillance cameras, drones, 911 services, and real-time crime centers. Connecting more tools can give public agencies access to more kinds of information and can create reliance on commercial systems and vendors. That does not mean every product is connected to every other product, or that every agency uses an integrated system. The ACLU’s account of police corporatization describes the wider market and its concerns about vendor access to sensitive public-safety data.
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ALPR searches also sit within a larger information landscape that can include other vendors’ camera networks, government databases and watchlists, drones, and analytics platforms. Vendors and deployments differ: an agency’s contract, settings, and policies matter as much as the product category. A comparison of vendors can identify questions to ask, but it cannot tell a reader how a particular local agency has configured its system.
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Why police use ALPRs
Searchable vehicle detections can provide investigative leads. A Senate Judiciary hearing release describes a sheriff’s account of ALPR assistance in resolving Silver Alerts, while also addressing alleged misuse and oversight. That example illustrates the public-safety case for the technology; it does not establish that every deployment is effective or that every search is justified. See the hearing release.
Why persistent records raise privacy concerns
Civil-liberties organizations argue that accumulated location records can reveal sensitive movements, and that broad sharing expands the risk of misuse. The ACLU has raised concerns about potential tracking of people seeking reproductive care, immigrants, and other groups. Such concerns should not be mistaken for proof that every agency has conducted those searches: claims about actual use need to be tied to the agency, records, or allegations at issue. The ACLU’s assessment of Flock’s cameras and announced changes discusses these issues and its view of the remaining risks.
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- 【Tried-and-True Safe Guard】This one-stop security solution can work with TVI, AHD, CVI, CVBS & IP cameras, the kit includes 1080P cams. The 8CH 3K lite DVR can hook up with 1080P@30fps or 3K/5MP@20fps cams. Therefore, you can also DIY it with other cameras in your home.
- 【Reliable 24/7 Continuous Recording】With a pre-installed 1TB HDD(Support up to 10TB HDD), providing 24/7 surveillance recording for you. Upgraded H.265+ saves more storage space and uses less bandwidth, recording videos longer and smoother viewing.
- 【Smart Dual-Light Effectively Guard Your Home】This newly upgraded security system offers you a crisp full color night vision, IR mode and color night vision switch flexibly. Once detect intruders, immediate pushes pop up on your phone, securing your peace of mind day&night.
- 【Color Night Vision & IP67 Weatherproof】Built-in IR lights and white lights, these cameras can see up to 100ft in B&W night vision, full-color night vision up to 66ft. Rated IP67, these wired cameras can brave all weather, and stand from cold to hot.
What rules limit law-enforcement use of license-plate readers?
There is no basis here for treating one nationwide rule as the complete answer. State law, local policies, contract terms, sharing permissions, and retention settings can all shape a specific deployment. Oversight is also practical, not just legal: it matters whether searches are logged, reviewed, restricted to approved purposes, or disclosed through public records.
The legal boundaries are also being contested. The ACLU, ACLU of Virginia, and EFF say they filed an amicus brief on April 20, 2026, in Schmidt v. Norfolk, a Fourth Circuit case challenging Norfolk police use of Flock ALPRs to track drivers’ movements. The case raises whether that surveillance violates reasonable expectations of privacy under the Fourth Amendment; it is a pending dispute, not a nationwide ruling resolving the legality of all ALPR use. The case page describes the challenge.
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How to evaluate a local ALPR deployment
For a useful picture of a system’s reach, ask the agency or consult its current policies and contract for each of these distinct issues:
- Collection: What images and vehicle information are captured? Does the system record every passing vehicle?
- Search access: Which local users can search records, and can outside agencies query them? Is approval required?
- Sharing scope: Is data shared with no outside agencies, named partners, agencies statewide, or a broader network?
- Retention: What is the default deletion period? Can it be extended, and who must approve an extension?
- Auditability: Are searches logged? Do supervisors review them, and can public records reveal how the system is used?
- Governance: Which state law, local policy, contract terms, and public-notice requirements apply, and what consequences follow misuse?
These questions separate a camera’s technical capability from the rules and practices governing its use. The ACLU’s vendor comparison addresses differences in retention and customer settings; CRS provides federal policy context. Neither substitutes for the current contract and written rules for the local system a resident wants to understand.
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