Waukee, Iowa

Jackson, Michigan police officials defended their use of Flock Safety license-plate-reading cameras at a recent Community Police Oversight Commission meeting, even as they acknowledged risks of misuse without proper governance. Police Chief Christopher Simpson said the 10 AI-powered cameras help locate stolen vehicles and vehicles tied to crimes, and said investigations would take longer without them. The City Council recently approved grant funding to continue the program despite resident skepticism about surveillance and data sharing.

Nationally, scrutiny of Flock's network has intensified. The Washington Post reported at least 50 officers charged or accused of misusing plate readers, including for stalking. Connecticut has restricted such data's use in immigration and abortion cases, and Michigan lawmakers have introduced similar legislation. In Iowa, the crowdsourced Finding Flock project has documented roughly 140,000 automated readers nationwide, up sharply from 2024. Several Iowa cities, including Waukee, Indianola, Osceola, Coralville and Iowa City, have ended or paused Flock contracts, part of a broader trend of roughly 100 U.S. communities canceling or rejecting the systems amid growing privacy backlash, while supporters cite crime-solving benefits.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has ordered a halt to all state funding for Flock Safety license-plate cameras, escalating a national backlash against the surveillance network. His office said state agencies are clarifying that funds cannot be used for Flock cameras, a decision that came as the Texas Tribune prepared an investigation into a 2023 legislative auto-insurance fee hike that funded roughly 3,200 Flock cameras statewide. The move follows vandalism of Houston-area cameras, an indicted Lufkin officer accused of misusing Flock data on 100 counts, and the arrest of a former Katy officer accused of using the data to stalk his ex-wife. League City recently became the first Texas city to put its Flock contract to a public vote.

The Texas action joins a growing list of jurisdictions curbing Flock use, including Tempe, St. Paul, Grand Rapids, Summit County and multiple Minnesota and Iowa cities, amid Sen. Josh Hawley's Senate investigation into the roughly 120,000-camera network. Flock has added privacy safeguards, including shorter video retention and suspicious-search detection, while defending the technology as a key public safety tool amid ongoing misuse and data-sharing concerns.