Documented Incident
LA police commission halts new ALPR installations pending oversight and public input
Event: July 14, 2026 · First reported: July 14, 2026 · 1 source
On July 14, 2026, the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners approved Office of Inspector General recommendations to suspend installation of additional automated license plate readers and any new ALPR vendor contracts until the city collects more public input and reassesses vendors and data-sharing practices. The vote followed the LAPD's decision to let its three-year Flock Safety contract lapse on July 11, cutting off department access to data from 138 cameras. LAPD officials said they had sought stronger contractual terms on data ownership, sharing and breach response, and that Flock responded the day before expiration with a letter of intent the department viewed as non-enforceable. Cameras from Motorola Solutions and Axon remain in use, and Chief Jim McDonnell said the move was not a rejection of the technology.
Los Angeles is the largest US city to pause ALPR expansion over contract terms and data-governance concerns, giving other jurisdictions a template for conditioning surveillance deployments on enforceable privacy provisions and audits.
Key facts
- Commission vote July 14, 2026 suspends new ALPR installations and contracts pending public input; future agreements require commission approval and enforceable terms.
- LAPD's Flock Safety contract expired July 11; Cmdr. Randy Goddard said the 138 cameras still record but no one, including Flock, has access to the data.
- OIG review of Aug. 1–Sept. 30, 2025 data: over 210 million plate reads, more than 50,000 alerts, 68 stops leading to 74 arrests, and 161 stolen-vehicle alerts for vehicles not actually stolen.
- OIG also recommended annual audits of ALPR data access and standardized documentation of stops prompted by ALPR alerts.
- Concerns intensified after an October 2025 University of Washington Center for Human Rights report on a Flock data-sharing pilot said federal agencies could access local plate data without agencies' knowledge or consent; LAPD says its data was not shared federally.
- Stop LAPD Spying Coalition rallied for a permanent end to ALPR use; Inspector General Matthew Barragan announced a virtual listening session for July 30, 4–6 p.m.
Sources
This summary was written from the published reporting below and links to it; BlockFlockNow does not reproduce article text.
- LA police commission shelves adding license plate cameras until public is heard (ocregister.com, July 14, 2026)
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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 10, 2026. Corrections: blockflock@bytebunny.io. See all documented incidents or search the full article archive.