Longboat Key Police to Brief Commission on 13-Year Flock Program: 89,969 Plate Reads, 10 Searches in a Month

Event: October 13, 2025 · First reported: October 18, 2026 · 1 source

Longboat Key Police Chief Russ Mager and Capt. Bob Bourque are scheduled to present an informational overview of the town's automated license plate reader program to the Town Commission at a 1 p.m. workshop, the first public accounting in roughly 13 years of operation. Department figures show 89,969 unique vehicles were photographed between Aug. 18 and Sept. 17, with 10 searches run in that window — five administrative or testing queries and five tied to specific investigations. The agenda item lists no vote or ordinance; the recommended action is 'informational only.' The cameras are contracted through Flock Safety by way of Vetted Security Solutions.

Why this matters

The briefing offers a rare public dataset on the ratio of mass capture to actual searches in a small-town ALPR deployment, and it comes as a neighboring Sarasota police officer faces felony official misconduct charges over alleged misuse of that city's Flock system. How Longboat Key's commission handles questions about retention, audit practices and regional data sharing may set expectations for other Florida municipalities.

Key facts

89,969 vehicles were logged between Aug. 18 and Sept. 17, each counted once regardless of repeat crossings; 10 searches were run in that period, attributed to four named personnel.
The department's policy is General Order 9011, effective April 2023 and revised August 2025, which bans personal-curiosity searches and promises monthly log reviews; the presentation lists a 30-day retention period but notes final retention settings 'should be validated against Florida law and Town records practices.'
Slides state the system does not use facial recognition or biometrics and stores no driver identity or DMV owner name, though the chief's memo lists suspended licenses, expired plates and no insurance among flagged matters.
A demonstration search by Capt. Bourque tracked a black Chevrolet pickup across three detections in 39 minutes using both Longboat Key and Manatee County Sheriff's Office cameras.
The presentation cites five cases, including a 2019 burglary spree involving more than $500,000 in valuables and a February 2025 fraud case ending in an arrest in Novi, Michigan.
A former Sarasota police officer was arrested and fired in August and faces felony official misconduct charges after investigators alleged he searched one plate 358 times over five months; he has not been convicted.

Sources

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

89,969 Cars, Ten Searches: Longboat Key Puts Its Flock Cameras on the Table (Longboat Key News, October 18, 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 21, 2026. Corrections: blockflock@bytebunny.io. See all documented incidents or search the full article archive.