Documented Incident
Civil rights groups seek NYPD records on 1,710 Flock license plate searches
First reported: October 9, 2026 · 2 sources
The Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.) and LatinoJustice PRLDEF say records from the 'Have I Been Flocked' database show NYPD officers ran 1,710 searches of Flock Safety's license plate network between March 2023 and December 2025. The groups say nearly 1,000 entries had blank or boilerplate justifications such as 'investigation' or strings like '234234,' making it impossible to assess whether the searches were proper. The NYPD says it has no contract with Flock and has never shared its own license plate reader data with the company, but acknowledged that a Flock representative gave 'a handful' of officers trial database access in 2023. S.T.O.P. filed a public records request on Sept. 17 seeking search and audit logs, contracts and training materials; the department said it would respond by Feb. 5, 2027.
The dispute tests whether a department can access a national ALPR network without a contract, formal oversight or auditable justification records. How the NYPD answers the records request may shape what documentation other cities demand before officers query third-party surveillance databases.
Key facts
- Advocates documented 1,710 NYPD searches of Flock data between March 2023 and December 2025, drawn from the 'Have I Been Flocked' database.
- Nearly 1,000 search entries were blank or contained vague or nonsensical justifications, according to S.T.O.P. and LatinoJustice PRLDEF.
- The NYPD says it has no Flock contract and shares no LPR data with the company, but confirms officers received trial access in 2023.
- S.T.O.P.'s Sept. 17 records request also covers Leonardo ELSAG and Motorola/Vigilant Solutions; the NYPD set a Feb. 5, 2027 response date.
- The groups say they discovered the NYPD searches while investigating whether New York police were querying Flock on behalf of ICE; that claim is their characterization.
- Flock says it operates more than 120,000 cameras in 49 states with about 20 billion vehicle scans per month.
Timeline
- October 9, 2026Who’s watching? Civil rights groups seek answers about NYPD’s use of Flock Safety
- October 9, 2026Who’s watching? Civil rights groups seek answers about NYPD’s use of Flock Safety
Sources
This summary was written from the published reporting below and links to it; BlockFlockNow does not reproduce article text.
- Who’s watching? Civil rights groups seek answers about NYPD’s use of Flock Safety (Brooklyn Paper, October 9, 2026)
- Who’s watching? Civil rights groups seek answers about NYPD’s use of Flock Safety (Amny, October 9, 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 13, 2026. Corrections: blockflock@bytebunny.io. See all documented incidents or search the full article archive.