WBUR, September 2026
More than a dozen municipalities in Massachusetts have turned off Flock cameras or ended their contracts with Flock Safety, the company that makes the automated license plate readers. The moves come after several communities, like Hopkinton, Auburn and New Bedford, voiced concerns over privacy and inappropriate use of the technology by officers. Littleton resident Amy Tarlow-Lewis told WBUR she is worried about being regularly surveilled.
“We didn’t agree to be surveilled, and now I’m paying for my own surveillance, and the people that are being surveilled the most are the people who live here, who are paying for it, who are not the ones that [police] are looking for,” she said. “I have two young teenagers that drive. You’re surveilling my kids all the time.” Roughly 100 communities in Massachusetts have installed these cameras in recent years.
