Flock Safety faces growing backlash over surveillance cameras as reforms fail to address warrant concerns

Flock Safety is facing severe backlash over its network of 120,000 license plate readers following numerous high-profile cases of police officers misusing the system to stalk romantic partners. In response, Flock Safety announced reforms on August 13, 2026, including reducing default data retention to seven days and requiring case numbers for searches. However, civil liberties groups like the ACLU dismiss these changes as hollow PR, pointing out that officers can easily enter fake case numbers and continue running warrantless searches.

Flock Safety privacy reforms

• ▪Flock Safety's August 2026 updates require officers to enter a specific criminal case number and offense type before running a vehicle search.
• ▪Flock Safety announced privacy reforms on August 13, 2026, including shortening its default data retention period from 30 days to seven days.
• ▪The American Civil Liberties Union criticized Flock Safety's August 2026 reforms as hollow security promises, noting that officers can easily enter fake case numbers to bypass search restrictions.
• ▪Flock Safety's August 2026 reforms mandate that law enforcement agencies use its Audit Assistance tool, which flags abnormal search behavior, by the end of 2026.

Warrant-free license plate searches

• ▪The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in United States v. Chatrie on June 29, 2026, that geofence warrants require Fourth Amendment probable cause, a decision legal analysts compare to retrospective license plate searches.
• ▪The Protecting Everyone's Expectations of Privacy Act is a model state law proposed by the Institute for Justice that would require a warrant for government access to license plate reader data older than 24 hours.
• ▪Flock Safety's network of over 120,000 cameras allows more than 140,000 officers across 5,000 agencies to search license plate data without obtaining a judicial warrant.

Officer stalking cases

• ▪A police officer in Polk County, Florida, was arrested in August 2026 for allegedly using Flock Safety cameras to search for his estranged wife's vehicle over 700 times.
• ▪The Washington Post identified 50 cases where law enforcement officers misused license plate reader systems from Flock Safety and its competitors to stalk and harass individuals.
• ▪New Bedford Police Department paused its use of Flock Safety cameras in August 2026 following allegations that Officer Emily Pacheco used the system to spy on an ex-girlfriend.
• ▪Stow Police Department terminated its relationship with Flock Safety in August 2026 after an internal investigation revealed Officer James Rogers used the system to track a former partner.

Camera vandalism incidents

• ▪The Lincoln Police Department in California is investigating the vandalism of six Flock Safety cameras since the beginning of 2026, including two recently damaged near the Lincoln Regional Airport.
• ▪The Ban Flock Cameras project reported that 80 or more communities have canceled or declined to renew contracts with Flock Safety in 2026, with 39 cancellations occurring in the first five months.
• ▪A 3D-printed removable cover called the 'Flock Sock' was created by an online enthusiast to allow users to temporarily obstruct Flock Safety cameras without causing permanent damage.

Mass surveillance concerns

• ▪The website 'Have I Been Flocked' compiles Flock Safety audit logs to allow drivers to look up their license plate numbers and see if their vehicles have been searched in the system.
• ▪The ACLU launched its national 'Get the Flock Out' campaign in late June 2026 to coordinate community opposition and push for legislative action against automated license plate readers.
• ▪The National Week of Action Against ALPRs, supported by the ACLU, was scheduled to run from August 16 to August 22, 2026, featuring community organizing and city council actions.