Arizona cities and counties split over Flock license plate camera contracts

Coverage spread: 2 sources — 2 unrated

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Where they agree

Multiple Arizona jurisdictions are actively reassessing their contracts with Flock Safety’s automated license plate reader cameras.
Privacy and data-sharing concerns, including possible access by federal immigration agents, are a common thread across the coverage.
Police officials frame the cameras primarily as public-safety and investigative tools rather than continuous surveillance.

Where they differ

ABC15’s Chandler report focuses on gathering resident opinion ahead of a city council vote, without detailing the department’s own case for the cameras.
ABC15’s Tempe report centers on the police chief’s defense of the program and highlights unanswered questions the city has yet to provide, including camera counts and a competing Axon system trial.
12 News’s Pinal County item is brief and outcome-focused, reporting the sheriff’s decision to drop Flock over Fourth Amendment concerns without elaborating on his reasoning.
The stories show divergent trajectories across jurisdictions — Chandler still deciding, Tempe expanding and defending its program, Pinal County withdrawing entirely.

Arizona communities are divided over whether to keep using Flock Safety’s automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras. Chandler’s City Council is set to vote August 13 on renewing its Flock contract after taking public comment, Tempe’s police chief is publicly defending the department’s expanding use of the cameras amid privacy questions, and Pinal County Sheriff Ross Teeple has announced the county will let its Flock contract expire in September over constitutional concerns.

What is happening in Chandler right now?

Chandler’s City Council held a study session on the Flock contract with 15 minutes of public comment, ahead of a scheduled vote at its regular meeting Thursday, August 13, at 6 p.m. ABC15 sent a reporter into downtown Chandler to gauge resident opinion before the vote, finding mixed views among people about whether the cameras should stay. The report did not detail a breakdown of how many residents support or oppose renewal, but framed the city as actively weighing the decision with direct public input built into the process.

How is Tempe using its Flock cameras, and why are people concerned?

Tempe Police Chief Ken McCoy gave ABC15 a look inside the department’s Real Time Operations Center, which combines traffic cameras, 911 call data, Flock license plate reader feeds and other technology. McCoy said the center has logged more than 1,200 “investigative assists” since launching in summer 2024 and is currently staffed six hours a day, with a goal of eventually running around the clock. He described the system as a public-safety and first-response tool rather than ongoing surveillance, saying operators are not sitting and watching the cameras but pulling them up when calls come in.

ALPR cameras photograph license plates and log a vehicle’s color, make and model, and some versions save video. When ABC15 asked McCoy whether Tempe’s Flock data could be shared with federal immigration agents, he said the department is working with its legal team and with Flock to strengthen data policies, then referred further questions to city staff. A city spokesperson told ABC15 that answers about how many Flock cameras are currently active in Tempe, the outcome of a 60-day trial of a competing Axon license plate reader system, and what oversight exists over the data would be provided the following week — meaning several basic questions about Tempe’s program remained unanswered as of the report.

Why is Pinal County dropping its Flock contract?

Pinal County Sheriff Ross Teeple announced in a social media video that the county will not renew its contract with Flock Safety, letting the agreement lapse in September. According to 12 News, Teeple’s stated reasoning centers on Fourth Amendment concerns — the constitutional protection against unreasonable searches — though the brief report did not include further detail on his specific objections or how the decision was reached.

What’s driving the broader debate over these cameras?

Across the Phoenix area, local governments are confronting the same basic tension: police departments say Flock’s automated license plate readers help solve crimes and speed emergency response, while residents and at least one elected sheriff are raising concerns about privacy, data retention and who else might get access to the information — including federal immigration enforcement. Tempe’s unanswered questions about camera counts, competing technology trials and data oversight, together with Pinal County’s outright exit from its contract, suggest these concerns are prompting different Arizona jurisdictions to reach different conclusions about whether the trade-off is worth it. Chandler’s upcoming council vote will be one of the more concrete near-term tests of how a Valley city government weighs those competing pressures when public comment is formally part of the process.

What happens next?

Chandler’s council is expected to vote on renewing its Flock contract at its August 13 meeting after further public comment. Tempe city officials were expected to provide more specifics on camera numbers, the Axon trial outcome and data oversight policies in the days following the report. Pinal County’s contract with Flock is set to lapse in September, effectively ending the county’s use of the system unless a new arrangement is reached before then.

Sources

Featured photo: Bureau of Land Management via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)