United States, California

Mountain View Police Department

Flock Safety ALPR, supplied by Flock Safety

DiscontinuedOfficial publicationPAI-F1C2EA5F

Body
Mountain View Police Department
Country
United States
Area
California
Technology
Flock Safety ALPR
Supplier
Flock Safety
Status
Discontinued
Use has ended, on the evidence of a public source.
Stage
Withdrawn
Since
August 2024
Legal basis
City council authorisation
Oversight
City council vote following public disclosure
Evidence
Official publication
Police force, government department or public body publication
Source
City of Mountain View, news item on the Flock Safety licence plate reader pilot, February 2026; Mountain View Voice, 25 February 2026
Last checked
Record code
PAI-F1C2EA5F

Notes

Mountain View ran a Flock Safety automated licence plate reader pilot of 30 leased cameras, the first installed in August 2024 and the last in January 2026, according to the Mountain View Voice. Police Chief Mike Canfield disclosed to the council in January 2026 that unauthorised agencies had searched the city's plate data for more than a year; the Voice's own investigation put this at over 250 unapproved agencies and roughly 600,000 searches between December 2024 and December 2025, and the chief acknowledged that out-of-state access in late 2024 breached city policy and state law. The city states that a police-initiated audit found federal and state law enforcement agencies had accessed the data in breach of its approved policies.

The chief switched off all 30 cameras on 2 February 2026. On 24 February 2026 the council voted unanimously to end the contract with Flock Safety; the city says the cameras "will be removed as soon as possible". The city had paid $154,650 under the contract by then, per the staff report cited by the Voice. Flock told the Voice it had changed its California platform to block out-of-state searches.

Included as a specific, well-documented instance of a US agency withdrawing a deployment after an oversight failure, distinct from the wider Flock Safety entry tracked separately. Correction in November 2026: the earlier record gave the start year as 2022 and described the disclosure as made in February 2026; the sources read give August 2024 for the first camera and January 2026 for the disclosure. The cameras were not yet confirmed physically removed in the sources read.

Flock Safety ALPR elsewhere in United States

See them in the tracker
Flock Safety ALPR elsewhere in United States
DeploymentCountrySupplierSinceStatusChecked
5,000+ US law enforcement agenciesFlock Safety ALPR United States Flock Safety 2018 Operational
Asheville Police DepartmentFlock Safety ALPR United StatesNorth Carolina Flock Safety — Discontinued
Lynchburg Police DepartmentFlock Safety ALPR United StatesVirginia Flock Safety — Discontinued
Sheboygan Police DepartmentFlock Safety ALPR United StatesWisconsin Flock Safety — Discontinued
Excelsior Springs Police DepartmentFlock Safety ALPR United StatesMissouri Flock Safety — Discontinued
Harrisonburg Police DepartmentFlock Safety ALPR United StatesVirginia Flock Safety 2023 Discontinued