The surveillance & liberty brief

Crow's Nest tracks license-plate readers, facial recognition, police surveillance and the wider civil-liberties beat, town by town. One free email each weekday morning, every line linked to the reporting it came from.

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El Paso votes to remove Flock cameras

Thursday, September 17, 2026 · 27 stories · view as email

Top

El Paso orders all Flock license plate cameras removed within 60 days.(diario.mx)

The El Paso City Council voted unanimously to require Flock Safety cameras be removed or covered within 60 days after Gov. Greg Abbott cut state funding for automated license-plate readers, the El Paso Times reported.

El Paso City Council Orders Complete Removal of Flock Surveillance Cameras (The El Paso Times)

Decrypted data reveals Flock surveillance cameras track individual pedestrians.(finance.biggo.com)

Ohio proposes statewide police drone surveillance limits despite Cleveland's stricter rules.(GovTech)

Boston police used an AI tool in over 30 sexual assault investigations.(The Boston Globe)

Privacy advocates urge cities to expand pushback against municipal surveillance technology.(Phoenix New Times)

Three states mandate operating system age checks during user setup.(PC Magazine)

The pattern

Officers in four cities faced investigations or charges over the misuse of license-plate reader data.

Eastpointe terminates its Flock contract over an officer's 600 personal searches.(The Detroit News)

Texas City police restrict license plate reader access following misuse review.(Click2Houston)

Decatur police investigate an officer for alleged misuse of Flock cameras.(1819 News)

Former Joplin officer Kenneth Andersen pleads not guilty to 22 unauthorized searches.(KODE 12)

Under the radar

Lake Mills cancels its Flock contract over externally shared search data.(Watertown Daily Times)

Flock watch

Three Wisconsin cities vote to end Flock camera contracts(WTMJ)

Arlington County ends Flock license-plate camera program(NBC4 Washington)

Neenah votes to end Flock license-plate cameras(wimsradio.com)

Flock removes 133 Knox County cameras(WBIR)

Missouri requires deleting plate data in 30 days(https://www.kctv5.com)

South Texas cities address privacy concerns over Flock networks(caller.com)

St. Charles County backs order regulating license plate readers(FOX 2)

East Peoria advances proposal to expand Flock network(1049thewolf.com)

Chattanooga defends license plate reader safeguards(Local 3 News)

Surveillance & Privacy

Missouri lawmakers prepare legislation restricting statewide use of Flock surveillance cameras.(WGEM)

Coastal Carolina University students raise privacy concerns over campus license plate readers.(WPDE)

Residents challenge a local city council over Flock license plate tracking cameras.(C&G Newspapers)

Utah lawmakers weigh privacy safeguards for Flock license-plate readers amid police pushback.(utahnewsdispatch.com)

Coming Up

Thu Sep 17

ExpiresUtah — Expiration of forbearance agreement pausing enforcement of Utah online age verification law SB 73 against Aylo (ABC 4)

Fri Sep 18

Comments dueFederal Trade Commission — FTC accepts public comments on proposed enforcement policy requiring disclosure of personalized surveillance pricing (JD Supra)

Fri Sep 18

DeadlineCPSC — Consumer Product Safety Commission deadline to respond to congressional inquiry regarding collection of emergency room patient records (Gold Rush Cam)

Fri Sep 18

DeadlineKosciusko County, IN — Deadline for local agencies to export evidence before County IT terminates access to the county Flock camera network (NewsChannel 15 WANE-TV Fort Wayne)

Fri Sep 18

DeadlineDepartment of Homeland Security — Proposals due for DHS procurement of government-wide biometric capture devices (biometricupdate.com)

Fri Sep 18

ExpiresKosciusko County, IN — Local access to the Flock license-plate reader camera system ends for law enforcement agencies (95.3 MNC)

Full calendar and .ics feed →

Speech & Press

Court dismisses doxing lawsuit targeting online criticism of a government employee.(reason.com)

Altadena officials find no public records on Flock camera contract approvals.(Pasadena Now)

Tenth Circuit hears challenge to mandatory Oklahoma Bar Association dues.(goldwaterinstitute.org)

Useful

DeFlock(deflock.org)

Crowdsourced map of automated license plate readers. Check your commute, then add the cameras you pass that are not on it yet.

All the tools and guides →

Past issues

Fri, Sep 25

India's Ministry of Home Affairs directed…

Thu, Sep 24

Massachusetts and Wisconsin fusion centers…

Wed, Sep 23

Carey bans ALPRs and facial recognition

Tue, Sep 22

Western Australia Police Force scanned…

Mon, Sep 21

Las Cruces adds Flock camera privacy rules

Fri, Sep 18

LiveView and Axon let police stream cameras

Wed, Sep 16

Hackers dump Flock camera data

Tue, Sep 15

Flock Safety gave feds Boston ALPR data

Mon, Sep 14

Minnesota jurisdictions drop Flock cameras

Fri, Sep 11

Tempe proposes license plate reader ban

Each issue is the day's brief as it went to subscribers. The feed has everything we tracked that did not make the email.