Documented Incident
Audit records show New Brunswick, NJ police ran 903 Flock ALPR searches in 2026
Event: January 1, 2026 · First reported: October 4, 2026 · 1 source
Records obtained through OPRAmachine.com and reviewed by Shore News Network show the New Brunswick Police Department logged 903 searches of Flock Safety's automated license plate reader system during the 2026 period covered, including hundreds of queries that reached 300 or more participating camera networks. Robbery was the most common stated reason at 241 records, followed by weapons or shots-fired investigations (111) and stolen vehicles (95). Two sergeants accounted for 705 of the 903 records, or 78%. The outlet reported it found no entries suggesting improper use, while noting the audit relies entirely on the reason text officers type themselves.
Search-level audit logs are one of the few mechanisms available to the public for assessing how networked ALPR systems are actually used, and this review illustrates both their value and their limits when the only record of purpose is an officer's own free-text entry.
Key facts
- 903 recorded Flock searches by New Brunswick police in the 2026 records reviewed, obtained via OPRAmachine.com
- Two sergeants generated 705 searches (78%); the article notes this does not by itself indicate misuse
- Stated reasons: 241 robbery, 111 weapons/shots fired, 95 stolen vehicle, 79 vandalism, 44 arson, 39 larceny, 37 sex offenses; 72 distinct reason descriptions
- New Brunswick City Council approved its first documented Flock agreement in August 2021, renewed in December 2022, with a $7,000 contract approved in June 2025; the city has 160 surveillance cameras under Chief Vincent Sabo
- Monthly totals in the dataset ranged from 44 in May to 210 in August; ACLU-NJ included New Brunswick among 21 departments it questioned about plate readers over a decade ago
Sources
This summary was written from the published reporting below and links to it; BlockFlockNow does not reproduce article text.
- New Brunswick Police Searched Flock Database Nearly 1,000 Times in 2026 in City Dominated by Surveillance Cameras (Shore News Network, October 4, 2026)
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About this record
BlockFlockNow documents reported incidents involving Flock Safety cameras and automated license plate readers: council votes, contract decisions, misuse by authorized users, lawsuits, audits, and community response. Every record is reviewed by a person before publication. New to the topic? Start with What is Flock?, find meetings near you, or learn how to request your town's camera records.
Updated October 5, 2026. Corrections: blockflock@bytebunny.io. See all documented incidents or search the full article archive.