LAPD pauses use of Flock license plate reading cameras

The Los Angeles Police Department paused its contract with Flock amid concerns surrounding the company's automatic license plate reading cameras. 

"We wanted to address some of the civil liberty and civil right concerns and ensure that there is clarity over the terms regarding privacy, data ownership and security," LAPD wrote in a statement. 

The company said they were disappointed by the announcement but committed to addressing the department's concerns and finding "a path forward."

"Flock has been working with LAPD to ensure that any continued use of our technology included strong privacy protections, strict auditability, clear accountability, and appropriate limits around data access," the company wrote in a statement. 

Residents throughout Southern California have criticized Flock for sharing data with out-of-state and federal law enforcement agencies, which violates state law. 

"Flock's position has been simple: if this technology is going to be used, it should be used with strong privacy protections, strict auditability, and clear oversight."

LAPD Commander Randy Goddard said his agency has not shared and will not share information with the federal government. 

"LAPD is the sole and exclusive owner of all data and information," he said. 

The Office of Inspector General said there are 298 automatic license plate readers mounted on poles throughout the city and more than 1,600 ALPRs mounted on top of or inside LAPD cars. The largest concentration of cameras is in West LA. 

LAPD has ALPR contracts with two other companies: Axon and Motorola. Officers said those contracts remain active because the companies have more stringent data safeguards. The deals will expire in 2027.

During a review in August and September 2025, the cameras helped lead to 74 arrests, according to the OIG. 

In the report, the OIG found that ALPR readings led to the recovery of 337 stolen vehicles but also resulted in 161 traffic stops that officers later determined were not stolen. The OIG attributed the errors to inaccurate or outdated information in law enforcement databases. 

"LAPD has used license plate reader technology for years and continues to rely on it today," Flock wrote in a statement. "We are proud of our partnership with LAPD and the results it has achieved for the city."

The city's police commission voted unanimously to adopt the OIG's recommendations to:

• Strengthen ALPR data oversight 
• Establish standardized practices for documenting traffic stops and other enforcement actions 
• Suspend installation of new ALPR cameras until additional public input is received

The city will hold a virtual meeting on the technology on July 30.

"We're looking for all members of the community to share their perspectives that we can report back to the board," LAPD Inspector General Matthew Barragan said. 

LAPD's announcement comes several months after the Ventura County Sheriff's Office and other law enforcement agencies in their jurisdiction explored alternative vendors for automatic license plate readers after learning that Flock had inadvertently shared their data with out-of-state law enforcement agencies, including federal agents. 

An audit found that out-of-state agencies accessed data from the Ventura County Sheriff's Office more than 364,000 times between February and March of last year without the department's approval or knowledge. Deputies said 299 justifications to enter the system referenced immigration enforcement, which is less than 1% of the hundreds of thousands of searches. 

The company told deputies that someone at the Sheriff's Office or a Flock employee could have reactivated the "National Look Up" feature, or that a system bug could have automatically activated it. 

In response, the Sheriff's Office said, "We conducted an internal investigation and determined that no one from our agency activated the national lookup feature."

Flock said it made internal improvements to their system to prevent the same issue.

In July, at about the same time as the LAPD, Costa Mesa city leaders said they would reconsider their use of Flock ALPRs amid similar complaints about privacy and the sharing of information with the federal government.