Quincy is tearing out its 50 Flock Safety license plate cameras and replacing them with a new automated reader system built on Axis Communications hardware and software called OdinEye — a switch Mayor Thomas Koch announced without any public input or competitive bidding process. The move comes weeks after the city council voted overwhelmingly to cut ties with Flock following sustained pushback from residents over the cameras' privacy implications.
The council passed its resolution against Flock by an 8-to-1 vote in late October, according to The Boston Globe. Then, on Oct. 23, Koch announced the city would simply hire a different vendor — again without the public weighing in or any bidding process, the Globe reported. Quincy Police Chief Kennedy said the department had 50 Flock cameras before the switch and that a policy requiring all collected data to be deleted within 14 days would remain in place, according to Boston.com.
Who Is Actually Behind OdinEye?
Quincy's new police technology runs on an ALPR system using Axis Communications cameras integrated with OdinEye software, according to WCVB. OdinEye markets itself as software that aggregates license plate data from third-party cameras, letting police search across municipalities regardless of camera maker — features the company says include end-to-end encryption, mandatory case numbers, and regular audits, per the Globe's reporting.
But the Globe's review found just one person it could identify as involved in OdinEye at all: John Stroud, a police detective in Middletown, Connecticut, who does business as CellTrace LLC. Connecticut registration records from 2024 list Stroud as the company's sole employee, and he posted about the OdinEye software in April, describing its purpose as aggregating and analyzing data across agencies that use different license plate reader vendors. He has claimed more than 850 users across 40 Connecticut agencies have used it to solve crimes — a claim that, per the Globe, appeared alongside a LinkedIn account that had gone dark by Nov. 2.
Waterbury's police department has used OdinEye for roughly two years with more than two dozen Rekor Systems license plate readers, officer Fernando Spagnolo told the paper, and Middletown's department is also a client. Erik Costa said two homicides were solved in under 12 hours using the technology, per his account to the Globe.
Residents and Councilors Push Back
City councilor Ziqiang Yuan argued that residents should have been informed and given a chance for public discussion before such a major decision was made. Yuan and another councilor have proposed an ordinance that would give the council authority to approve or reject surveillance technology before it's adopted — though the council has not yet passed it.
Quincy resident Liz Speakman questioned OdinEye's cybersecurity capabilities and overall reliability, while fellow resident John Fitzmaurice asked how a single detective could support and maintain the system for dozens of agencies, and whether it has ever been independently audited.
Kennedy generally defended the department's use of investigative tools. The city has scheduled a meeting on surveillance technology for Monday, Nov. 9.
Company Says It Won't Sell Your Data — But Keeps a License to Use It
Quincy Isn't Alone in Dropping Flock
Salem had announced it was ending its Flock contract in July over data security concerns and said it planned to replace it with a system offering greater local control of data, per the Globe's data reporting project.
The pullback extends well beyond the North Shore. WCVB reported that at least 18 Massachusetts municipalities have quit using Flock cameras entirely. Nationally, TechCrunch counted at least 10 local governments or police departments that have moved since summer to curb, restrict, or end their use of Flock technology — including Cleveland, which extended its Flock contract but restricted immigration-related searches and limited database access to its own police department alone.
Boston ran a 90-day Flock pilot using 45 cameras but ultimately declined to extend it, instead launching pilot programs with Motorola Solutions and Axon this year, according to the Globe's earlier reporting on the regional surveillance market. New Bedford's city council voted to ban its Flock cameras outright, with its contract set to expire Nov. 12, Boston.com reported.
