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WEB PAGE COMING SOON (THIS IS A DRAFT)
What are Flock cameras?
Flock cameras photograph the license plate and back bumper of every passing car (called "ALPR," Automated License Plate Readers), and records the time and date that each car passed.
Randolph has 10 Flock cameras, situated at "ingress points" around town, such as main streets that border other towns.
Sample Flock camera photo (click for source).
Flock Safety, the corporation that makes Flock cameras, insists that Flock cameras cannot identify the driver or any individuals in the car.
And Flock Safety insists that ICE (and other federal agencies) are not legally allowed to get Flock data, by contract and by data security.
But Flock Safety cannot help with closing loopholes in data leaks to ICE -- they leave that to local police departments.
Flock camera at the corner of West St. and Lafayette St.
The Randolph Police Department has used Flock data to investigate local crime, and would prefer to keep Flock cameras for that purpose.
The goal of Councilor Gordon's proposed order is to allow RPD to use Flock data for criminal investigations, while closing the loopholes that cause misuse.
The public outcry against Flock cameras has two parts:
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Invasion of privacy -- the proposed Council Order doesn't address these "Fourth Amednment issues".
Misuse of Flock data -- the proposed Council Order DOES address misuse, and establishes a process to identify and prevent future misuse.
What are the loopholes that let Flock data get to ICE?
The most important loophole is "social engineering," which means corrupt police officers "cheating" to misuse Flock data.
Only local law enfrocement officers can request Flocak data from Randolph -- not state poilice and not federal agents -- but local police officers could obtain Flocak data and give it to federal agents, despite the rules against it.
When requesting Flock data, police officers must identify why they are requesting it -- but they can lie -- and they must identify a case for reference -- but they can lie about that too.
Sample Flock audit data (click for source).
The percentage of corrupt cops is very low, but there are a LOT of Flock photographs -- over a billion a month! -- so the possibility is there.
Here are some cases where Flock data has been misused:
How do we close the loopholes?
You cannot stop corrupt cops from lying, but you can set up a system that catches them afterwards, and fines them as a civil penalty. That system is:
- A monthly audit of Flock data: Look for cheating, like a user who always omits a case reference.
- Flock automatically flags data if one license plate is checked dozens of times (this targets corrupt cops who are stalking their ex'es).
- A naive corrupt cop might write "immigration" as the purpose of the search -- that is illegal, but would only get spotted during an audit.
- Police officers who work in jursidictions that allow 287(g) deputization should be subject to intense scrutiny.
("287(g)" means ICE empowers local police officers to arrest people on behalf of ICE).
- In general, officers who might be 287(g)-deputized should be barred from the Randolph Flock system, since corrupt cops there are most likely to help ICE.
- The $300 per day fine means, if a corrupt cop forwards to ICE 100 photos, that's a $30,000 civil penalty. $300 per day is the maximum allowed by state law.
Why can't we just ban Flock cameras in Randolph?
Many jurisdictions in Massachusetts have banned Flock cameras. To do so in Randolph, the Town Council would have to hear from the public enough to persuade a majority (5 out of 9) to vote for a ban.
That has not happened in Randolph, but if you want to speak out, your chance is at the upcoming hearings on Councilor Gordon's proposed order. Here are some cities and towns that have banned Flock cameras:
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Alternatively, the police chief would have to hear from the public enough to overcome the benefits for local criminal investigations.
Councilor Gordon's interview with the Police Chief in July was the first complaint RPD had heard -- it's up to the public to say more.
The Abington Police Chief did respond, in September 2026, to a public outcry, and unilaterally stopped using Flock cameras accordingly. Here is his statement:
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Compromise that restricts misuse but allows Flock use
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