Surveillance or Safety? Flock's Plate Readers Ruffle Feathers From Town Halls to the Hill 🪶

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are preparing legislation that would restrict federal funding for agencies using Flock Safety's automated license plate reader cameras, as opposition to the technology expands beyond city council meetings into the national policy debate. Public records and advocacy reports cited by The Institute for Justice, The Guardian and the Electronic Frontier Foundation detail a widening set of controversies surrounding the Atlanta-based company's network of internet-connected cameras.

A February report by the Institute for Justice identified more than two dozen cases nationwide in which officers resigned or were arrested for allegedly using automated license plate reader systems to stalk current or former romantic partners. In Milwaukee, prosecutors charged an officer in February with using the system to track a romantic partner and her former partner. In July, an internal affairs detective who investigated that case was arrested after authorities alleged he also used Flock to track people for personal reasons.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation says agencies queried license plate databases during public demonstrations, including the No Kings protests in 2025. The same group reported that Texas deputies ran Flock searches during an abortion investigation that authorities initially described as a missing-person case. Activists have escalated their response in recent months. The Guardian identified at least 33 incidents across 23 states during June and July in which cameras were spray-painted, taped over, disabled or destroyed, and several people now face criminal charges over alleged damage to multiple units. Online communities have circulated camera location maps, guidance on avoiding plate readers and instructions for obstructing them.

Founded in 2017, Flock Safety sells cameras that automatically photograph passing vehicles, read license plates and apply computer vision to identify characteristics such as make, model, color, decals, roof racks and other distinguishing features. Participating law enforcement agencies can search the database during criminal investigations, receive alerts when vehicles linked to cases pass a camera, recover stolen vehicles and locate missing people. Flock says its cameras do not use facial recognition and typically retain data for 30 days unless local laws require a different retention period.

CEO Garrett Langley, in comments to ABC7, said the company takes privacy concerns seriously and argued that public perception shifts once residents understand the technology's actual function. "Once they understand what the technology actually does, not what it might do in 50 years, not what someone thinks it could do, but what it actually does day in and day out, it takes a picture of a car. Most people go, 'This makes a lot of sense. I want my kids to be safe,'" Langley said. Federal legislation now under development on Capitol Hill is expected to target agency funding tied to the deployment of automated license plate reader systems.