Latest news with #Flock
CBS News
2 hours ago
- CBS News
Two teens arrested after leading Monroe County deputies on high-speed chase in stolen car, sheriff says
Two teen boys have been arrested after a high-speed chase in Southeast Michigan's Monroe and Wayne counties as authorities investigated a stolen vehicle complaint. The investigation is still ongoing, but the Monroe County Sheriff's Office said that the two are believed to be involved in a series of breaking and entering incidents that happened Monday evening and early Tuesday in Frenchtown Township. The investigation began after Michigan State Police handled several criminal complaints in the area of Custer Estates Apartments, which is on Mall Road in Frenchtown Township. The reports included larcenies from vehicles, attempts to steal vehicles, and a 2018 Ford Edge that was stolen. Through access to the Flock license plate reader camera system, officers learned the stolen Ford Edge was a few miles away in the area of LaPlaisance Road near Interstate 75 in Monroe Township. A Michigan State Police trooper saw the Ford Edge turning from LaPlaisance Road / Exit 11 onto I-75 northbound and provided its location. A sheriff's deputy attempted a traffic stop on I-75 near Elm Avenue / Exit 14, but the driver sped off. The stolen vehicle was pursued until the driver finally stopped at Van Horn Road and Telegraph Road in Wayne County's Brownstown Township. Both the driver and passenger were taken into custody and have been lodged at the Monroe County Youth Center. The Monroe County Sheriff's Office asks that anyone with information to assist in this investigation call the department at 734-240-7530 or submit a tip through Crime Stoppers, 800-SPEAK-UP.
Boston Globe
22-07-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
Surveillance tech company Flock Safety opens offices in Boston
The Boston office, opened Tuesday, is Flock's first expansion outside of its home in Atlanta. The new office will focus on sales and engineering. Advertisement Flock's co-founder and chief people officer Paige Todd said that opening a new location in Seaport was an easy decision. The company recently hired senior sales officers from Boston, who advocated for an office in the city. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Flock Safety co-founder and chief people officer Paige Todd AMY JONATHAN EAKIN_ Boston, they said, offered its access to university graduates and technology partners, especially in artificial intelligence and engineering. Flock's largest rival, the taser maker Axon, also opened an office in Boston last year. 'It's always a good sign to see a company is choosing to expand in Boston,' Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce spokesperson Casey Baines said in an interview. 'Our talent and workforce is going to benefit.' Flock was founded in 2017 by Georgia Tech alums, Garrett Langley, and Matt Feury, and Todd, initially building surveillance cameras by hand. The company later created a platform that centralizes data collected from Flock's cameras and makes the data easy to share with other user Advertisement Donald Maye, head of operations at the tech research company IPVM, said Flock has modeled its technology after social media platforms, which become more powerful as more users join. More than 5,000 law enforcement agencies use Flock's platform, according to the company. 'They aggressively invest in sales and marketing,' Maye said. 'They used the engine of developing relationships with police departments and using those relationships to sell other police departments.' Flock's ALPR cameras are scattered across the state and country and are monitored by local law enforcement agencies. Those agencies can 'opt-in' to share or receive data from other agencies — including from other states — creating a 'network' of centralized license plate data. Flock says the system automatically erases that data after 30 days, although it may keep it for further investigations. Flock provides flexibility to how law enforcements choose to use the technology, Todd said. If an agency decides it wants data to be erased after seven days, it could change the settings to do so. Agencies can also opt-in for a 'transparency portal,' a public webpage with general information on the agency's use of Flock devices, such as how many cameras they use and how many motor vehicles are logged in each month. Some agencies also allow access to their audit logs, which show each time an officer looks up information in the Flock system. Todd said Flock is aware of the controversial aspect of their products. Advertisement 'It is a daily conversation,' Todd said. 'How do we ensure privacy is protected while also giving law enforcement the tools they need to solve crime?' The American Civil Liberties Union calls the technology's ability to track every person regardless of whether they committed a crime unconstitutional. Without clear state policies, law enforcement agencies can abuse the centralized system, said Kade Crockford, director of the Technology for Liberty Program at ACLU Massachusetts. Officers with access to the system can search for any license plate they desire, even without a warrant. Officers could use the system to track women who travel out-of-state to seek abortion care, look up undocumented individuals, or even — as in one reported case — track an ex-wife, said Crockford. 'Privacy is not controversial,' said Crockford. 'I have no problems with companies doing business in Boston. I just want to make sure that lawmaking and public policy is done in the interest of residents and the public.' Flock has recently expanded its products beyond its cameras. It also developed gunshot sound detection sensors and in April invested in a drone system to aid in car pursuits. Todd said the company is looking to collaborate with other tech companies in Boston as it continues to grow. In New England, only Massachusetts and Rhode Island are without laws regulating the use of license plate recognition systems. Earlier this year, state Representative Steven Owens, Democrat of Watertown, filed the Drivers Privacy Act, which would limit how long data could be stored and prevent agencies from tracking activity protected by the First Amendment. Yogev Toby can be reached at
Yahoo
10-07-2025
- Yahoo
Woman arrested in connection with shots fired at car in Abbotsford after high-risk stop
ABBOTSFORD − Police arrested a woman during the early morning hours of July 6 after a report July 5 of someone shooting at a vehicle. At 2:35 p.m. July 5, a caller reported an incident that had happened several hours earlier. The person said a woman shot a firearm at a vehicle, according to a news release from the Colby-Abbotsford Police Department. No one was injured in the shooting, which happened on Seventh Street in the city of Abbotsford. The incident started with an initial conflict at a tavern in Colby concerning previous relationships. The suspect left the tavern and went to a home on Seventh Street in Abbotsford, according to the news release. The victim, along with other occupants of a vehicle, drove to the residence to try to confront the suspect. Occupants of the house warned the people in the car to leave because the suspect was upset and had a gun, according to the news release. The suspect then came out of the home with the gun. The vehicle left and the suspect shot at it in the street as they were leaving, according to the news release. The Colby-Abbotsford Police Department collected evidence at the scene and used the Flock license plate readers to track the suspect's vehicle. At 1:55 a.m. July 6, the department received notification of the location of the suspect's vehicle. Detectives found the vehicle and attempted to stop it, but the suspect did not immediately stop, according to the news release. Colby-Abbotsford police conducted a high-risk traffic stop and were able to arrest the suspect without incident, according to the news release. After questioning her at the police department, officers took the woman to the Marathon County Jail. The woman is expected to make her initial appearance July 11. Wood County inspections: 11 of 15 restaurants receive perfect reports with no violations More local news: Public Defender Emily Nolan-Plutchak named new Wood County Circuit Court judge Contact Karen Madden at kmadden@ Follow her on Twitter at @KMadden715, Instagram at @kmadden715 or Facebook at This article originally appeared on Marshfield News-Herald: One arrested after shots fired at car in Abbotsford July 5
Axios
09-07-2025
- Axios
Richmond police ban feds from tracking immigrants' license plate data
A federal agency was using Richmond's license plate reader system for immigration enforcement, the city's police department announced this week. Why it matters: RPD has permanently blocked all federal agencies from being able to do so, saying the action violates department policy. Catch up quick: Police said Tuesday that they learned the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has been improperly accessing the automatic license plate reader data from its provider, Flock Safety, for months. RPD had granted ATF access to the data to assist with its investigations in February, a month before the federal agency got involved with immigration enforcement. Police say they found out in June that ATF agents had been making immigration-related searches in the system since March. Then RPD cut them off. What they're saying: "If ATF had formally requested access for that purpose, I would have denied it," Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards said in a statement. Edwards has previously said RPD wouldn't work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to make arrests, citing a need to maintain community trust. The other side: ATF officials said in a statement that they "regret that this situation occurred" and added that the searches "were related to criminal activity, not civil immigration enforcement." The big picture: The latest incident is part of a broader pattern happening across Virginia, where advocates are scrutinizing how data from Flock Safety's automatic license plate readers (ALPR) has been used for immigration surveillance. By the numbers: A WHRO investigation found dozens of immigration-related searches across five counties, including Chesterfield, using ALPRs from June 2024 to April 2025. Richmond and Henrico have a combined 184 Flock cameras, which is among the most in the state, per WHRO. What we're watching: A new Virginia law, effective July 1, says law enforcement can use ALPR data only for in-state criminal investigations.
Chicago Tribune
27-06-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Evanston to protect privacy of abortion, gender-care patients by limiting license plate reader tech
In response to reports of Texas officials using Mount Prospect's automatic license plate reading (ALPR) technology to track a woman who traveled to Illinois for an abortion, Evanston officials passed an ordinance that would limit data sharing in similar cases to protect the privacy of individuals seeking sensitive healthcare procedures. The Evanston City Council introduced its Health Data Protection Ordinance at its June 23 meeting to protect people seeking reproductive care or gender-affirming surgery in Evanston from being tracked and having their privacy violated. While the ordinance focuses on health care, it could also potentially prevent federal officials from tracking immigrants, Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss observed. The Evanston Police Department uses license plate reading technology from Flock Safety, which also manages license plate readers for police departments in Mount Prospect and many other Illinois municipalities. Flock uses cameras to read license plates and logs the data for 30 days. It can be accessed by out-of-state law enforcement agencies with access to Flock on an opt-in basis, according to Evanston Police Chief Schenita Stewart. Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias said in a news release that his office is investigating the technology and company after Mount Prospect's Flock license plate readers were used by Texas officials. Illinois law bars license plate reading technology to aid federal agencies to track undocumented immigrants and for out-of-state agencies to use the technology to track those who seek abortions and gender-affirming surgery. Evanston Police Sergeant Tom Giese, who manages EPD's license plate reader system, said the technology makes Evanston safer and has contributed to arrests ranging from hit-and-runs to murders. Stewart said according to Flock, the technology has followed Illinois law in Evanston. Nonetheless, Stewart said the police department has temporarily removed itself from the national opt-in look-up tool. Mayor Daniel Biss, an advocate for the proposed ordinance, said he anticipates Illinois, including Evanston, will continue to be a destination for those seeking abortions and gender- affirming surgery as bans have cropped up for both practices in nearby states. City Councilmembers Jonathan Nieuwsma and Juan Geracaris, along with Biss, spoke to reporters prior to the City Council meeting to answer questions about the ordinance. 'We don't have illusions about what role we do and don't play as a municipal government, but we also feel a really acute urgency to do whatever we can,' Biss said. Biss said prior to the ordinance's introduction that out-of-state agencies have not asked to use Evanston's license plate readers to monitor people who come to Illinois seeking healthcare that is outlawed in their home state. Nevertheless, he said he didn't want to wait for it to happen to pass an ordinance against it. 'This is what's coming,' Biss said. 'What I have learned is that if you wait for the bad thing to happen and then try to retroactively prohibit it — not only do you not solve the one individual problem of the bad thing that happened — but also you've allowed a bad habit to form, which is really, really dangerous.' Another Evanston media outlet reported that out-of-state police agencies have tapped into Flock's national look-up tool to conduct seven searches related to immigration including Evanston and elsewhere. The practice troubled several members on the dais. 'I'm not comfortable with this… what I've learned so far has not given me the comfort that I need,' Biss said. Giese said Flock's national look-up tool has assisted the department in the past when criminal suspects have fled the immediate area, and the department's ability to use the look-up tool is contingent on EPD sharing its data. 'The national look-up is not an actual search,' Giese said. 'Flock calls it a ping. So it's taking a specific license plate, running it across every camera and then Flock will be like, 'Alright, it hit in this town, in this state.'' 'Yeah, that's what I'm scared of,' Biss said. 'That's the exact thing that I think, 'Oh my God, why would we ever dream of doing that?'' 'From my experience, the national look-up tool has been very beneficial for us as a law enforcement agency for our operations,' Giese replied. 'I totally understand the concern that you bring up with it. But by eliminating it and by no longer subscribing to that, we're just focusing on the state now.' 'After discussions with several surrounding agencies, although there was misuse, it was a very small amount of misuse compared to the daily usage of Flock… less than 1% of misuse,' Giese said. Biss expressed concern about the possibility of that misuse happening in Evanston. 'Maybe just to give you some tactical advice in convincing me in the future, every time you say it's only a few examples, you move me further away from you, dramatically,' he said. 'If our attitude is like, eh, we'll just let a few instances slip by where we're helping ICE whisk people off the street, I'm done,' Biss said. Stewart disagreed with that assessment. 'That would be your opinion. I don't think we've shown you as an agency that's our attitude. We've disabled (the national opt-in lookup tool).' 'Right. Okay,' Biss said. Flock's contract is active through 2028, Giese said in response to a question from City Councilmember Bobby Burns. Corporation Counsel Alexandra Ruggie said to her knowledge, Flock has not done anything to violate its contract with Evanston which would allow the contract to be terminated early.
