Police Are Hiding Their Use of Flock Surveillance Cameras
A Flock ALPR usage policy in Wapello County, Iowa instructs police not to disclose their use of license plate reader cameras to the public.
The usage policy for Flock automated license plate reader cameras in Wapello County tells officers not to mention ALPR usage to vehicle occupants and not to include it in reports or complaints unless absolutely necessary. The author compares this secrecy to police concealing use of IMSI-catchers like Stingray two decades ago.
- Flock policy directs police to keep ALPR use secret in traffic stops and reports
- Practice mirrors historical police concealment of Stingray IMSI-catcher deployments
Full article138 words · extracted from schneier.com · click to collapse
A usage policy for Flock license plate reader cameras tells police not to talk about the cameras:
When cops use Flock to arrest someone in Wapello County, Iowa, they don’t want them to know. A usage policy for the automated license plate reader cameras in the county tells police, in no uncertain terms, to keep them a secret: “DO NOT MENTION ALPR USAGE TO THE OCCUPANTS OF THE VEHICLE,” the policy document reads. “DO NOT MENTION ALPR USAGE IN YOUR REPORT OR COMPLAINT UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY.”
This reminds me of IMSI-catchers (Stingray was the most popular) a couple of decades ago. Police would go to even more extremes to hide their usage.
Tags: cars, law enforcement, police
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Text extracted automatically; images, tables and formatting may be missing. Original: https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2026/08/police-are-hiding-their-use-of-flock-surveillance-cameras.html