Crow's Nest
Tuesday, October 27, 2026 · The digital civil-liberties brief · View on the web
Suffolk Constabulary will deploy borrowed live facial recognition gear across three town centers.
Suffolk Constabulary announced plans to deploy live facial recognition cameras across three town centers to scan pedestrians against a watchlist. The BBC reports the force scanned 80,000 faces and made four arrests during a similar deployment in August. (Bury Mercury)
Top
- Lead, South Dakota enacted an ordinance that bans automated license plate readers. (NewsCenter1)
- Thackerville police have stopped using Flock cameras after ending its contract. (KTEN)
- Sens. Ron Wyden and Adam Schiff demand release of a FISA court ruling. (wired.com)
- Essex Police deploy mobile live facial recognition vans across Basildon and Southend. (Southend Echo)
- Peoria's city council will consider a $13.8 million contract for police drones. (WEEK | 25 News Now)
The pattern
Officers in three states faced investigation or discipline for improper or unauthorized use of license plate readers.
- A Virginia prosecutor declined to charge an officer for unauthorized federal ALPR sharing. (virginiamercury.com)
- Chicago police opened an internal probe into whether officers misused license-plate reader systems. (WTTW News)
- Oak Ridge police suspended an officer for misusing automated license plate readers. (WATE 6 On Your Side)
Flock watch
Akron opts out of nationwide Flock searches (Cleveland 19 News)
Cleveland Metropolitan School District ends contract with Flock Safety (Cleveland 19 News)
La Crosse cancels Flock license plate reader contract (Seehafer News)
Penn State removes over 20 Flock cameras (The Daily Collegian)
Minnesota counties install Flock cameras after suburbs removed them (Star Tribune)
Surveillance & Privacy
- A Wisconsin Supreme Court petition challenges warrantless police license plate searches. (The Auto Wire)
- Hampshire police scanned 406,001 faces across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. (bigbrotherwatch.org.uk)
- A Little Rock city director introduces a revised police surveillance measure. (The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)
- NYPD prepares a $750,500 sole-source contract for Cognyte cell-site simulators. (Reclaim The Net)
Coming Up
Tue Oct 27 · MEETING · Bayfield County, WI — Bayfield County Board considers recommendation to develop a policy or ban on Flock automated license plate readers (apg-wi.com)
Tue Oct 27 · MEETING · Lynchburg, Virginia — Lynchburg City Council hears a resolution regarding the removal of Flock Safety license plate readers (Lynchburg News and Advance)
Tue Oct 27 · MEETING · Simpsonville — Simpsonville Committee of the Whole considers proposed ordinance banning traffic-surveillance cameras (Audacy)
Tue Oct 27 · VOTE · Los Angeles, CA — Los Angeles City Council votes on a memorandum of understanding with Axon for a streetlight ALPR pilot program (Knock LA)
Tue Oct 27 · VOTE · Pinellas County, Florida — Pinellas County Commissioners vote on a proposal to end contracts and ties to Flock Safety cameras and automated license plate readers (Florida Politics)
Wed Oct 28 · EXPIRES · Half Moon Bay, CA — Half Moon Bay's two-year Flock automated license plate reader pilot project expires (coastside buzz)
Speech & Press
- UK Home Office embeds predictive AI across borders secretly, Open Rights Group finds. (openrightsgroup.org)
- The Knight Institute and Yale's MFIA Clinic sued over revoking press credentials. (knightcolumbia.org)
- A University of Cincinnati speech syllabus threatens students with lost points for undefined isms. (The College Fix)
Useful
Restore the Fourth — A nonpartisan group organized around the Fourth Amendment, with local chapters that show up at council meetings.
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