Flock in Flight

Have you ever been to Littleton, Massachusetts? The town has news for you. In a July 30 newsflash, Littleton disclosed that five cameras on its public ways had been reactivated by Flock Safety, with no notification to the town. Littleton Police Department accessed the Flock platform that morning, at the request of Select Board Chairman Gary Wilson, to verify status — and found the cameras live. By that afternoon, the Littleton Electric Light Department had confirmed turning off the camera power. The Select Board then directed Town Counsel to initiate cancellation of the contract with Flock Safety, and directed the Town Administrator to coordinate removal of the six cameras on public ways with the Department of Public Works.

Littleton is not an isolated case. On August 11, Boston.com reported that New Bedford has temporarily suspended its use of Flock as the automated license plate reader system comes under increased scrutiny — including an internal review that has already put one officer on administrative leave. A day earlier, The New York Times ran "Flock Cameras Can Track Every Car in America. Police Love Them. Citizens Don't."

As a backdrop to this, Malden News Network submitted a public records request to Mayor Gary Christenson's Office on July 13, 2026, for all digitally searchable records from January 1, 2026 forward that include the phrase "Flock Safety." The City has not yet responded; its extended, month-long response timeline is now due August 17, 2026.

MNN also submitted a second request, to the City Clerk's Office, seeking records the City provided to another individual but withheld from public disclosure. That request was likewise extended past a month, and is now due August 18, 2026.

The ACLU's ongoing "Get the Flock Out" campaign puts the company in a wider context of automated license plate reader (ALPR) vendors selling this kind of surveillance to police departments:

Flock provides one of the most widely used ALPR systems, but they aren't the only company trying to make a buck by spying on us. Axon, Vigilant Solutions (a subsidiary of Motorola Solutions), Genetec, PlateSmart, Innova Systems, Rekor, ELSAG, Perceptics, and Jenoptik are a few of the other leading companies selling ALPRs to police, private companies, and others.

The pattern nationally is a familiar one: cameras installed with little public notice, followed by scrutiny only after a town's own staff, journalists, or advocates start asking questions. Malden's two outstanding requests to find out more about the Flock Safety cameras are due this month. The Civic Broadside will publish what comes back.

References

• 8/11/26, "New Bedford temporarily suspends use of Flock as the surveillance cameras come under increased scrutiny; The automated license plate reader system is also facing questions in a small Plymouth County town." https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2026/08/11/new-bedford-temporarily-suspends-use-of-flock-as-the-surveillance-cameras-come-under-increased-scrutiny/?p1=hp_secondary
• Retrieved 8/12/26, New Bedford Announces Temporary Suspension of Flock Safety Technology — https://www.newbedfordpd.com/2026/08/chief-thody-announces-temporary-suspension-of-flock-safety-technology/
• 7/30/26, "Get the Flock Out," ACLU and ALPR Cameras — https://www.aclu.org/campaigns-initiatives/get-the-flock-out
• 7/30/26, Littleton, MA, Flock Camera Update — https://littletonma.org/m/newsflash/home/detail/593
• 7/23/26, https://www.civicbroadside.com/flock-cameras-salem-drops-flock
• 7/15/26, https://www.civicbroadside.com/birds-on-the-wire
• 6/26/26, WSJ: "The Nationwide Backlash Against Cameras Watching Your Car" — https://www.facebook.com/MaldenNewsNetwork/posts/pfbid07oQprTgjsjQvaVjnxjFKci99BVxFh6cgem2CUiKJJVLcNqyTcoPVfr63JS1TFkuol
• 6/24/26, What is Flock Safety? — https://www.facebook.com/MaldenNewsNetwork/posts/pfbid025J3xsVEYnUH6RbRTa8SBPXM2QLgnZpYiTpGhx8Q7vBMMFiLhZexCkicR2GNrSopcl