Boylston police announced they have suspended use of the Flock Safety automated license plate reader system, making the small Worcester County town the latest in a fast-growing list of Massachusetts communities walking away from the controversial camera network. Town officials say they plan to terminate the department's agreement with Flock Safety entirely and will hold a public meeting for residents to discuss the technology and evaluate options for its future.
The move was reported by Boston 25 News, which noted that Boylston officials reached the decision in coordination with the Boylston Select Board and the town administrator's office. The Boylston Select Board has scheduled a public meeting for September 28 at 6:30 p.m. to discuss the technology and hear from residents, according to the same report. Boylston police say they will evaluate the technology and other options moving forward, rather than simply going without any tool at all.
Boylston isn't alone this month. Southbridge, Abington, and Ayer have each announced they will stop using Flock's license-plate-reading cameras, the station reported, as Massachusetts communities and states across the country reconsider their relationships with the technology.
A Statewide Wave of Cancellations
The pace of departures has accelerated well beyond these four towns. Data tracked by civil rights advocates shows at least 25 Massachusetts municipalities have canceled Flock contracts or discontinued pilot programs over the previous 18 months, according to the New Bedford Guide. That momentum mirrors a national pattern, with critics frequently pointing to warrantless location tracking, third-party data access, and false-positive risks.
Some towns have found a specific legal off-ramp. Hopkinton terminated its Flock Safety contract on August 20 after town counsel concluded the service agreement contained statutory deficiencies that violated municipal procurement laws, according to HCAM Television — a decision Hoodline previously reported. The same outlet also reported on the Hopkinton decision.
Officer Misuse Fuels Public Distrust
Concerns about how the cameras are actually used inside police departments have also driven the backlash. A New Bedford police officer was suspended in August after allegedly misusing the department's Flock Safety platform, prompting city councilors to draft a restrictive municipal surveillance ordinance in September, according to The New Bedford Light. A Stow police officer was separately placed on leave in 2026 following allegations of querying Flock records for non-official purposes.
Accuracy questions have compounded the trust problem. Questions about the accuracy of stolen-vehicle alerts have also entered the broader debate.
Courts and Lawmakers Weigh In
State-level pressure is building alongside the local exits. A Suffolk County Superior Court judge ruled this month that the Massachusetts State Police must publicly release audit logs and camera location records tied to its automated license plate reader network, following a public records lawsuit brought by the ACLU of Massachusetts. State Police had argued the location data and usage logs were exempt from public disclosure laws.
Meanwhile, Massachusetts Representative Steve Owens has introduced House Bill 3755, dubbed An Act establishing driver privacy protections, which would create statewide ALPR regulations and mandate warrants for cross-agency data sharing. The bill received a unanimous 11-0 endorsement from the legislature's Transportation Committee in March, according to the New Bedford Light. Massachusetts currently has no statewide statute governing automated license plate readers, leaving individual select boards, town managers, and police chiefs to navigate procurement rules and vendor negotiations community by community, per the outlet's reporting.
Concerns about Flock's nationwide network sharing and the boundaries between local and outside agencies have also been raised.
What Flock Has Changed — and What Towns Still Lack
Facing mounting pressure, Flock Safety announced in August that it was reducing its default data retention period from 30 days to 7 days, acknowledging that roughly 90 percent of police searches occur within a week of data capture, according to the ACLU. The company also launched an Evidence Mode feature that can extend retention beyond seven days when data is formally attached to an active case number.
Crowdsourced surveillance mapping project DeFlock has documented 1,187 automated license plate reader cameras operating across Massachusetts, out of more than 138,000 identified nationwide as of September 2026 — a tally that illustrates the scale of the network. Boylston's neighbors have also been part of the broader discussion: Hoodline reported on the use of ALPR tools in Framingham.
Boylston police maintain they will still evaluate the technology and other options going forward rather than abandon the idea of camera-assisted policing altogether. The Select Board's September 28 meeting is expected to give residents a chance to discuss the technology and its future.
