Last week, CT Insider reported that Flock Safety — a company that operates license plate scanners in many Connecticut towns and cities — is sharing data with the Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection.
Resident John McCarthy learned that the town of Westport has paid Flock Group $80,000, and asked about town leaders’ knowledge and oversight of Flock.
Today, Police Chief David Farrell responded to questions by McCarthy, and several Representative Town Meeting members. He said:
I appreciate the concerns raised regarding the use of Flock license plate reader (LPR) cameras, particularly as they relate to privacy and the handling of data. Public trust is central to our mission, and I want to take this opportunity to clarify both our safeguards and the benefits of this technology.
LPR technology has been in use by the Westport Police Department for over 15 years. Early on, these cameras were affixed to a couple of our patrol cars, as well as our railroad parking vehicle.
As technology has progressed, we have upgraded our systems, including changing vendors to meet our needs. We now have that technology built into our patrol in-car cameras that were mandated by An Act Concerning Police Accountability in 2020.
Flock license plae reader.
We utilize LPRs for downtown parking enforcement, and have had fixed cameras in place next to the Westport railroad station off I-95 exit 17 northbound and southbound for several years. Our two primary vendors are Vigilant and Flock.
The Flock system is designed with strict privacy protections. The cameras capture vehicle license plates, not personal identity information. The data collected is stored securely, is retained for 30 days, and access is strictly controlled.
Our department’s policy prohibits the use of LPR data for immigration enforcement or any purpose unrelated to legitimate criminal investigations. We do not share this data with federal immigration enforcement agencies. Our intent is solely to protect our community, not to compromise the rights or privacy of our residents.
The LPR system has already proven to be a valuable tool in preventing and solving crime. The cameras act as force multipliers by alerting officers to stolen vehicles, wanted people, and vehicles associated with ongoing investigations.
As you are aware, criminals will steal a vehicle, and then use that vehicle to commit other crimes, which is the case in many of the stolen vehicles that have occurred throughout this town. This real-time information has directly led to arrests in many communities for cases involving violent felonies, motor vehicle theft, and other serious crimes.
License plate recognition cameras can automatically notify authorities of suspected vehicles.
In addition, the system allows investigators to quickly generate leads that would otherwise take days or weeks to develop, ultimately saving critical resources. With surrounding towns also on this platform, we can coordinate when bad actors enter this region and work together to proactively catch criminals. These towns include Norwalk, Fairfield, New Caanan, Darien, Wilton, Bridgeport, Ridgefield and Newtown.
Because of the benefits of the system, the police department requested an increase in its operating budget to account for additional LPR cameras. This was presented and discussed at the public workshop and formal meetings with the Board of Finance.
It was also presented and discussed at scheduled meetings with RTM Committees (Public Protection, Finance, and Transit) during budget approval. It was included in our budget book that was presented to the full RTM for their consideration as well.
Our department recognizes that security and privacy must coexist. We have established policies, oversight measures, and accountability mechanisms to ensure the responsible use of this technology. We remain committed to transparency to ensure continued trust and confidence in our approach.
In summary, LPR cameras provide our community with a modern, efficient, and accountable tool to enhance public safety while respecting privacy.
When are we going to get much needed speed cameras on our roadways? This will keep our residents safer and if I had to guess a tremendous revenue booster for Westport at the same time.
Washington CT was one of the first installed this year and generated over$50,000 the first 2 weeks. Middletown CT has generated $600,000 in just a few months. What are we waiting for?
you made the biggest point yourself, they primarily revenue generate (tax) not necessary making people safer.
Chris…unless something has changed, fines collected from motor vehicle violations all go directly to the state..
Dave – that is generally true about speeding tickets, etc. However, in the case of speed cameras, the fines are split between the town and the technology vendors.
Bill..I did not know that…In that case bring on the speed cameras!
Chris, unfortunately 95% of ticket revenue goes to the State, not towns. The CT Legislature needs to be more aggressive in approving camera tickets.
I was passed by a speeding car over the 2 yellow lines on Easton road…. wish he could have been caught on camera
Wasn’t the first time and I was driving speed limit…not slowly!
I hope we are not helping the gestopo or ICE.
Dude you don’t want non Westport residents on your beach.
Does Flock share with ICE?
MS. Farley, did you forget to take your Kaopectate today?
you in Westport who are so interested in harbouring illegals:
(and I’m all for generous immigration into USA, as long as they are truly documented, as in ‘we know who they are’; if Biden Administration had really wanted to promote immigration for reasons healthy for USA, Biden Admin would have instead invested in making the process more accessible, less corrupt in these ‘immigrants’ countries of origin and not into, as Biden Admin instead did, into funding illegal immigration and human trafficking/smuggling that included Biden Administration and Democrat Natl Party Reps in congress, senate and judiciary insisting on keeping the migrants UnDocumented, etc.), i.e.,
Do you have migrant hotels there in Westport for the thousands of illegals in NYC ? Do you want to make those hotels accessible to them at expense of USA tax payers ? They also get and they do now expect every month, when not more frequently, generous cash cards, food cards, free schooling and healthcare, professional licenses in food services, healthcare support, commercial driving licenses, etc. and they expect to receive those professional licenses even if they don’t pass the same tests that USAs and our legit aka documented intl guests need to in order to get the same licenses.
We have probably thousands more illegals here in NYC than is reported and more coming in as other jurisdictions throughout USA are now able to smartly say no to UnDocumented Immigration aka human trafficking, i.e.,
if we in NYC can just give the illegals aka UnDocumenteds tickets to Westport and you can greet them at train station cash card them, provide them hotels/homes, free schooling, healthcare, etc., that would at least get them out of here so that their negative impacting on NYC’s upcoming Mayoral election stops or reduces, i.e.,
they’re literally unfairly, but also understandably because people in NYC just can’t disassociate NYC Mayor Adams fr what Biden Admin legally forced him to do as Mayor of NYC (Adams legally had no choice but to do what Biden Admin forced him to in regard to moving public resources away fr USA NYC’ers to Illegals in NYC) costing, it seems, NYC Mayor Adams significant amount of votes in the upcoming NYC Mayoral Election.
and if that NYC Mayoral Election results in a communist who has not only often stated he wants to defund the police but also he wants to, his words, globalise intifada, becoming mayor of NYC then that NYC Mayoral election will also impact – and not well – all of USA and wherever else USA has allies … in large part because Biden Admin broke the border, insisted in UnDocumented Immigration into and throughout USA and there are people glorifying, romanticising all of that because they’re not (yet) taking on the immediate responsibilities of it.
What in tarnation are you going on about?
Huh. I thought Trump built the big, beautiful wall and fixed the border way back when and Mexico paid for it. You mean that didn’t happen?
Ms. Farley, surely you are concerned about the documented (legals) and the citizens who have been wrongly rounded up. Please don’t fool yourself, any one of us could be next. Oops, wrong one!
policies are the easy part but compliance to policies, strong controls, and secure systems are other more difficult important things… courts, threat actors, and insider threats can possibly override so-called policies… just something to keep in mind 😉
This was a carefully worded response from our PD:
“The cameras [not “system”!] capture vehicle license plates, not personal identity information.”
Obvious, unless you have a bumper sticker with your name, DOB and SSN on it. But the system as a whole presumably has full access to registration info for that plate.
“The data collected is stored securely, is retained for 30 days, and access is strictly controlled.”
Note there’s no mention of what exactly happens after 30 days.
All it promises is a minimum of 30 days.
Is it ever purged?
It would make sense to keep it as evidence until conviction
or the statute of limitations runs out.
“We do not share this data with federal immigration enforcement agencies.”
Fair enough, so with what other federal agencies, or anyone else, exactly is the data shared?
We deserve a more formal data retention policy statement.
Bonus Westport cost-saving idea:
Install at the entrance to Compo Beach along with a gate.
No need for super-friendly colored sticker-checking staff to wave at.
No need for Park & Rec beach sticker printing infrastructure,
and associated labor, mailing, etc, etc.
Pay for your virtual sticker online & your plate’s in the database & enjoy your summer!
Pretty sure a license plate number is one of the easiest examples of personally identifiable information aka pii. A SSN is also pii.
Mr, Stamm..I believe that is exactly what Norwalk does at Calf Pasture..
What’s with Johnny being so consumed by cameras in Westport lately? Longshore? LPR’s now?
Put down the Orwell book Johnny.
Here’s what the Electronic Frontier Foundation has to say about automated license plate readers:
Street Level Surveillance | Automated license plate readers
https://sls.eff.org/technologies/automated-license-plate-readers-alprs
Flock allows law enforcement clients to share data which would suggest ICE has access to data collected in Westport.
Brave New World ain’t it?
Perhaps Chief Farrell could share his department’s “policy” rather than just refer to it. His post raises more questions than answers. LPR + geolocation data is very big brotherly and I definitely don’t trust that the data is safe. Let’s see the policy.
For fans of Flock, get ready for Flock Drones….Westport will be so safe. Is everyone ready?
https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2025/09/03/ai-startup-flock-thinks-it-can-eliminate-all-crime-in-america/
It’s a public record, the police department’s contract with Flock. Also public records are any emails or other correspondence exchanged between the town and the vendor, before and after the contract was signed. (These public records are not owned by the public officials. By state law, the owners of these public records are the public, and the police department and perhaps other town officials are custodians of these public records.)
The police chief says that his department’s policy “prohibits the use of LPR [license plate recognition] data for immigration enforcement or any purpose unrelated to legitimate criminal investigations.”
Is that limitation agreed to by Flock in the contract? What exactly does the contract say?
The police chief says, “We do not share this data with federal immigration enforcement agencies.”
The chief appears to sidestep the question of whether or not Flock is allowed to share this data with federal authorities. What exactly does the contract say?
That’s the key question, What limitations does the contract put on Flock sharing the data?
The same question applies to the other vendor mentioned by the chief, Vigilant.
To get an answer, someone apparently is going to need to make a public records request for the contracts and all correspondence with the two companies.
Here’s the form:
https://westportpdct.requestfoia.com/