Flock Safety License Plate Reader Program

At a glance

What: Review of the Malden Police Department's Flock Safety license plate reader program, held as the sole agenda item of a council meeting recorded for the public after a resolution a few weeks earlier. The city has 11 fixed cameras deployed (a twelfth battery-powered camera is not in use), in service since 2023.
Where it stands: Informational review only; no vote was taken. Council President Amanda Linehan offered further forums, possibly through the public safety committee or another special meeting, and the council may look at how it learns of contracts.

Based on auto-generated captions of the video; names, numbers and addresses may be misheard.

Details

Police said data is kept 7 days (cut from 30 by the city's choice), patrol officers cannot search, and searches need a supervisor's approval, an offense type and a case number, with dual authentication. About 27 superior officers and 10 detectives (under supervisor oversight) have search access. Weekly audits are done by the detective administrator and the criminal investigation captain using a flagging tool.
Sharing is limited to Massachusetts agencies with no federal or out-of-state sharing; each search by another agency leaves an audit record. The public transparency portal reported about 137,000 vehicles detected and 60 searches in the last 30 days, plus 1,098 hot-list alerts. Data is hosted on Amazon Web Services; private Flock owners cannot share with the department. Police do not use facial recognition and are not interested in add-ons such as drones.
Police described success stories including a homicide, a missing endangered person, a violent kidnapping and assault, a home invasion and armed robbery.
The controller said the city pays $30,500 a year, procured in 2023 through a collaborative purchasing contract, with no signed contract located, only annual invoices and purchase orders; contracts are signed off by the solicitor (as to form) and the controller (funding).
Councilor Jadeane Sica spoke in favor of the cameras. Councilors Karen Colón Hayes, Carey McDonald, Ryan O'Malley and Peg Crowe asked about sharing with other agencies, audits, minors in images, Flock's own use of data and the risk of future add-ons. Carey McDonald, liaison to the Police Community Advisory Council, noted its 16-page written Q&A with the department. Councilor O'Malley suggested a council policy on vetting contracts.

Sources

Log

2026-10-13 - City Council Special Meeting

Presentation and live demonstration by the police chief and detective administrator, then questions from councilors and the Police Community Advisory Council clerk. Meeting adjourned at 8:55 p.m.

2026-10-06 - City Council

Announced the October 13 Committee of the Whole presentation on the Flock camera system.

2026-09-08 - City Council

Police chief defended the program in public comment (7-day retention, no federal or State Police access); a Committee of the Whole review was scheduled (from auto-captions).