Providence City Council refers proposed ALPR ban, including Flock cameras, to committee

First reported: October 17, 2026 · 1 source

At its meeting reported on October 16, 2026, the Providence City Council introduced and referred to committee a proposed ordinance that would add a section to the city's police code banning automated license plate readers, including Flock cameras. Councilor Sue AnderBois of Ward 3 spoke in support and thanked Council President Rachel Miller and Councilor Miguel Sanchez as co-sponsors. Councilman John Goncalves said he intends to back the ordinance, while acknowledging the technology has aided police in recovering stolen vehicles, locating missing people and in the Brown University shooting. The referral is a procedural first step; the proposal still requires committee review and further council votes.

Why this matters

Providence would join a small number of cities weighing an outright local prohibition on ALPR technology rather than a usage policy, and the committee stage is where residents and the police department can formally contest or defend the deployment.

Key facts

The ordinance was referred to committee by voice vote along with items 5 through 28; the clerk reported 11 members present and four absent, constituting a quorum.
AnderBois said constant surveillance is 'a direct infringement on our civil rights,' citing news reports of ALPR data being used to track immigrants, and said 'the data is leaky.'
AnderBois said a Rhode Island College professor and students analyzed the city's Flock data and presented findings showing millions of searches to the Special Committee on Environment and Resiliency earlier in the spring.
Goncalves said he and, he believed, the council president introduced a 2022 resolution raising concerns about the technology, and that the council was circumvented when it was deployed anyway.
In separate business, the council approved tax abatements for AS220, Shiloh Gospel Temple and the Blackstone Valley Advocacy Center by 10-1 roll call votes, with Councilor Jo-Ann Ryan objecting over missing fiscal notes.

Sources

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

Recap: Providence Council Sends Flock Camera Ban to Committee, Approves Tax Abatements (Uprise RI, October 17, 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.