Providence's Flock Safety license-plate camera program began with a 25-camera pilot in 2022 and has since grown to 60 cameras, which scan traffic across the city. Now the contract that keeps them running is about to lapse. The City Council was scheduled to vote Wednesday on whether to ban the surveillance program, which costs the city roughly $160,000 a year, as the current agreement expires at the end of October.
According to the Boston Globe, Providence has 60 of the cameras positioned at undisclosed locations throughout the city, and the current contract expires in October. The Globe also reports that Providence police have prohibited sharing Flock camera data with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and that any outside department requesting the footage must agree not to pass it along to immigration officials. Police have also recently scaled back the number of officers who can access the system, the Globe reports, a step taken in response to public pushback over the technology.
Providence Police Chief Oscar Perez has pointed to the cameras' investigative value, saying they helped identify the vehicle belonging to a suspect in the murder of a Brown University professor, according to ABC News. That case has become a touchstone for supporters of the technology in Providence, even as the debate over its risks intensifies.
How the Cameras Work and What They Keep
Flock cameras photograph passing vehicles and store the images in a searchable database, typically for about a month, per WPRI. Exactly how long that data sticks around is itself disputed: Rhode Island Current reports that Flock Safety now deletes records after seven days by default following a recent policy change, down from the 30-day period it previously used. The Brown Daily Herald, however, describes the company's privacy protections as including data encryption, sharing restrictions and deletion after 30 days — a discrepancy that has not been resolved in available reporting.
Providence's own ALPR policy, posted by the city, states that it is intended to guide the capture, storage and use of digital data obtained through the technology. Separately, the Providence Police Department began using Flock automated license-plate-reader technology in April 2022. Last October, the City Council also amended the Community-Police Relations Act to bar police from using targeted electronic surveillance to collect or retain information about lawful activities without reasonable suspicion tied to criminal activity or a judicial warrant specific to time, place and target, according to council documents. The council separately voted to prohibit using Flock data to assist federal immigration enforcement, per a statement from the Providence City Council.
A Statewide Reckoning Over Flock
Providence's vote lands amid a broader Rhode Island reckoning over the cameras. The number of municipalities using or planning to install Flock technology rose from 14 of the state's 39 municipalities in October 2025 to at least 24 by August 2026, Rhode Island Current reports. Nearly 300 Flock cameras are now operating statewide, the outlet notes, with 39 of them installed across more than 20 communities at no local cost through a federal grant.
That expansion has come alongside a wave of resistance. Narragansett, Glocester, Lincoln and North Kingstown have canceled or paused their Flock programs, according to Rhode Island Current's reporting, and South Kingstown's Town Council voted unanimously in late July to cancel its own contract, citing concerns about privacy and potential misuse. Not every community has moved the same direction — Tiverton's Town Council voted 3-1 in late July to approve additional cameras, with three members absent and one council member casting the lone no vote. Earlier this year, the Warren Town Council voted against installing the cameras altogether, and Portsmouth followed with a similar vote, the Brown Daily Herald reported.
Gov. Dan McKee has also weighed in, calling for a 60-day pause on installing new Flock cameras while Rhode Island State Police review the technology, though existing cameras were allowed to keep operating during that window, Rhode Island Current reports. The pushback isn't confined to Rhode Island: ABC News reports that more than 50 cities and counties nationwide have canceled or deactivated license-plate-recognition cameras, and that Flock cameras have been vandalized in at least 36 states. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott paused state funding for the cameras, ABC News reports, while Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said he would welcome a bipartisan bill to ban them in his state. Closer to home, New Bedford became the latest Massachusetts city to pause its use of the cameras for review, according to the Boston Globe.
What Happens Next in Providence
As WLNE-TV (ABC6) reports, the council vote comes as the city's contract with Flock is set to expire at the end of October, putting pressure on council members to decide the program's future before it lapses. The outcome of Wednesday's vote was not available at publication time, and the exact terms of any renewed or amended contract remain unclear.
