Public Records Tools Let Illinois Residents Check Flock ALPR Search Logs

First reported: August 6, 2026 · 2 sources

Patch outlined ways Illinois residents can review how local agencies use Flock Safety automated license plate readers, including the Have I Been Flocked site, which publishes Flock audit logs obtained through public records requests, and the crowdsourced DeFlock camera map. According to the audit data cited, the Chicago Police Department ran 405,508 searches and saw 7,874 plates between Jan. 25, 2023, and July 1, 2026, while the Cook County Sheriff's Office ran 149,990 searches and saw 49 plates over the same period. Flock says its cameras help solve crimes, recover stolen vehicles and locate missing people, and disputes the label of mass surveillance because cameras sit at fixed public locations rather than tracking vehicles continuously. The ACLU and Electronic Frontier Foundation have called for warrant requirements, limits on data sharing, shorter retention and routine audits.

Why this matters

Audit logs and crowdsourced camera maps are among the few avenues residents have to independently assess how often police query ALPR systems and for what stated reasons. The Illinois figures illustrate how disclosure through public records requests can turn otherwise opaque surveillance systems into a subject of local oversight debate.

Key facts

Flock says it has deployed roughly 120,000 cameras across 49 states, serving more than 5,000 law enforcement agencies plus local governments, businesses, schools, HOAs and property managers.
Chicago Police made 405,508 Flock searches and saw 7,874 plates from Jan. 25, 2023 to July 1, 2026, per audit logs cited by Patch; peak capture time was 4 p.m. and peak day was Wednesday.
The Cook County Sheriff's Office made 149,990 searches and saw 49 plates in the same period.
Flock says vehicle data is deleted automatically after 30 days unless local rules or contracts say otherwise.
The DeFlock map is crowdsourced and not an official or complete inventory of camera locations.

Sources

This summary was written from the published reporting below and links to it; BlockFlockNow does not reproduce article text.

Here's How To Know If You've Been 'Flocked' In IL (Patch, August 6, 2026)
How To Know If You've Been 'Flocked' As Concerns Grow Over Automated License Plate Readers (Patch, August 4, 2026)

More from Illinois

Everything we have documented in Illinois, or search every Illinois article in the archive.

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 August 17, 2026. Corrections: blockflock@bytebunny.io. See all documented incidents or search the full article archive.