Officer misuse of Flock license plate cameras triggers pullback across Phoenix-area cities

Several Phoenix-area police departments have suspended, ended or restricted their use of Flock Safety automated license plate reader cameras after a string of officers were caught misusing the system for personal reasons. Chandler, Apache Junction and Surprise have all reported officers using the cameras to track family members, and Chandler and Pinal County have canceled their Flock contracts outright, while Tempe and Goodyear have imposed new restrictions or launched investigations.

What exactly did the Chandler officer do?

Chandler Police say a routine audit on Aug. 6 flagged unusual activity tied to one officer’s account. When questioned, the officer admitted to using the city’s 40-camera Flock system to locate an older family member with existing health problems. Police said the search was verified as targeting a relative, not a member of the public, and that no one’s privacy outside the family was compromised. The officer was placed on administrative leave and resigned before Chandler could complete a formal internal investigation; because of the resignation, the department has closed the case and declined to name the officer. Chandler had already announced on Aug. 7 that it would stop using its cameras and not renew its Flock contract, citing the “anomaly” the audit uncovered.

How widespread is this beyond Chandler?

Similar cases surfaced in quick succession across the Valley in early-to-mid August. Apache Junction officer Joshua McDaniel resigned Aug. 10 after admitting he used Flock cameras to find his wife; Chief Michael Pooley disclosed this at the same event where he credited the technology with helping locate a 13-year-old girl taken by a stranger under a Turquoise Alert. Surprise suspended its ALPR program on Aug. 12 and put an officer on leave after an audit flagged a possible policy violation — making it the fourth Arizona agency in a week to report out-of-policy use. Goodyear opened a criminal investigation into one of its officers’ Flock access. Pinal County also ended its program. In total, roughly 60 police departments across Arizona use Flock’s camera network.

Why is Tempe changing its approach if it found no misuse?

Tempe Police say multiple internal audits turned up no misuse of their 33 cameras, but the department still ended automatic data sharing with Flock’s nationwide database as of Aug. 13 and opted to share data only with Arizona agencies on request. City data show Tempe’s cameras logged 746 search sessions and nearly 3,000 “hotlist” hits in the prior 30 days, now visible on a new public transparency portal. Freshman councilmember Bobby Nichols, who campaigned on ending the Flock contract, said the change followed his conversations with police and the city manager’s office. His office cited concern that other cities’ access to shared data — including Mesa, which has a 287(g) agreement letting ICE deputize local officers — could create a “loophole for misuse” even without any wrongdoing in Tempe itself. Tempe plans to seek new ALPR vendor bids and is still reviewing results of a 60-day pilot with Scottsdale-based Axon.

What is Flock Safety doing in response?

Flock CEO Garrett Langley said the company is respondsing to concerns about data sharing and officer misuse, framing the wave of disclosures as partly a byproduct of its own AI audit tool rolled out in April, which is helping departments catch policy violations they might otherwise have missed. Flock announced it is cutting default data retention from 30 days to seven, requiring officers to enter case numbers before running searches, and automatically locking out accounts flagged for suspicious activity. Langley argued the technology has helped many cities cut crime and that the real debate is over the trade-offs of that reduction. Flock also points to more than 30 court rulings nationwide upholding its system against Fourth Amendment challenges.

What do residents and advocates want?

At a Chandler City Council meeting on Aug. 13, resident Michael Oei said he and others want a total ban on ALPR cameras, not just stronger safeguards, arguing the technology itself is “fundamentally broken.” Katelynn Contreras of the ACLU of Arizona said the systems are “rife for abuse” and called for community input and stronger guardrails on data use. Nathan Taylortaft of East Valley Unite said switching vendors doesn’t fix the underlying problem and that ALPRs “cannot be reformed.” A state Senate bill that would have set safeguards on the technology failed to advance in the last legislative session. Departments defending the cameras point to specific successes: Buckeye credits Flock with tracking an armed road-rage suspect in March, and Casa Grande used it to locate a homicide suspect’s car last month.

Sources

• 12 News Phoenix — Chandler residents want ban on all automated license plate readers after officer admits to misusing system · Chandler officer admits to misusing Flock camera system, resigns
• AZFamily — ‘Rife for abuse’: Several Arizona agencies halt Flock cameras amid misuse cases · Chandler police officer resigns, admits to misusing Flock cameras
• FOX 10 Phoenix — Flock Safety updates camera policies after misuse · Arizona cities rethink Flock camera tech as officer misuse leads to resignations · Chandler police officer admits to misusing Flock camera system and resigns: PD · Chandler officer quits over Flock camera misuse
• ABC15 Arizona

Featured photo: Chandlernews via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)