Waltham
The Waltham Police Department has had Flock ALPR (Automated License Plate Reader) cameras installed throughout the city since at least September 2025. There is no record of community engagement prior to deployment, or any announcement of either the contract or the deployment of the surveillance technology. Waltham PD was initially sharing access to their Flock data with over 700 agencies across the country, including two federal agencies, providing a backdoor for ICE. City Council proposed a non-binding policy regulating the use of surveillance technology, but Waltham Police and Solicitor Laughman rejected it.
Our problem is not with Waltham PD. Waltham PD has relatively progressive leadership and has announced they will not be involved with civil immigration enforcement, and have claimed to have limited communication with ICE. Our opposition is to Flock and their invasive surveillance technology. Flock puts intimate data of almost every Waltham resident in the hands of unknown third parties, free to do with it what they please. This is a massive violation of rights to regular, law abiding residents. Our leaders do not understand this technology and have failed to regulate it.
The map below shows crowdsourced locations of known ALPRs.
Briefly, there was momentum among the populace and City Council
During a March 2, 2026 Ordinances & Rules Committee meeting, City Solicitor Laughman advised the city not to implement an ordinance surrounding ALPR and surveillance technology as it could put the city at legal risk if they were to violate the policies. She instead suggested a non-binding policy. Waltham Times article.
Briefly, the city was energized against Flock after an April 2, 2026 town hall brought in 100+ residents, of whom none voiced their support for surveillance technology. Organized by Councilor Colleen Bradley-MacArthur, this was the first attempt by any sitting City official to allow community input. The event was attended by councilors Cathyann Harris, Bill Hanley, Randy LeBlanc and Emma Tzioumas. Waltham Times article.
On April 21, 2026, the Ordinances & Rules Committee was attended by Waltham Police Chief Kevin O’Connell, Detective Tim Maher, and Deputy Chief Steven Champeon. Councilors Bill Hanley, Caren Dunn, Kathyann Harris, and Robert Logan were also present representing the Committee. Full video is available on WCAC’s website, relevant discussion begins at 38:45. Councilors had the opportunity ask questions, but no community input was permitted. Councilor Caren Dunn and Bill Hanley demonstrated their fundamental inability to understand their constituent’s concerns and the technology itself. Caren Dunn asked the hard hitting question “So the general public is pretty safe from misuse of this technology unless you’re a criminal and you should be caught anyway?” (1:08:33) to which Chief O’Connell responded “correct” and left it at that. Dunn then said that people think they “are being watched” and that is “just not the case”. Councilor Harris thanked the Police for listening and adapting (1:01:00), without indicating that the only changes made were the sharing agreements of the Flock network. At the time of the meeting, sharing had been limited to MA Police departments in addition to the NESPIN, a New England regional sharing network that includes other states. At the time of this writing (July 2026), NESPIN has quietly been removed from the sharing agreement according to the Flock transparency portal, but no Councilor asked about the agency that is obviously not limited to MA Police departments. Councilor Bill Hanley inquired about who has access to Waltham Flock data, (1:01:38), and Chief O’Connell insisted only their detectives have access. This is obviously incorrect, as any users of the 94 agencies listed in the sharing network have access as well and will fall under their own department’s control (not Waltham’s). No Councilor understood this implication or asked how Waltham PD control’s the access of data from other Departments.
In response to Solicitor Laughman’s advisal to reject the adoption of a binding ordinance, Councilor Robert Logan introduced a non-binding policy surrounding the use of Surveillance Technology. This document was vehemently rejected by Waltham Police Department despite its unenforceable nature.
A digital reproduction of the paper policy is available here. No copy has been shared publicly. The Committee tabled the discussion until further notice, and has not been discussed in any future Committee meetings since the April 2026 meeting.
A public records request obtained from the City of West Springfield Police Department reveal Waltham PD’s use of the Flock network
The report includes queries made between August 12, 2025 and September 12, 2025.
We do not have complete understanding on how Flock’s search audit works, but it is our understanding that searches made by an agency with whom another agency has a sharing agreement would be logged if the data is queried. There is the ability to query specific cameras, so if Waltham PD queried their cameras, that search would not appear in West Springfields audit.
Waltham PD performed 850 searches in the time period of the report. Three officers conducted 94% of all searches. Search reason, which is the alleged guardrail to prevent officer abuse, was used in vague manners that indicate either poor training or negligence. Reasons primarily include vague terms such crimenet, accident, suspicious incident, and “Irish traveler”. It is unclear how a legitimate audit of Officer search reasons could be conducted with the search reasons seen in this report.
Other interesting findings:
– US Postal Inspection Service, a federal agency, queried the database 3,937 times
– Braselton, GA’s police searches are in this database, whose chief was arrested in December 2025 under charges that he used Flock to harass citizens
Full Flock search audit containing Waltham Police Department searches
Update: City councilors, upon requests from constituents, urged WPD to limit sharing. WPD has since claimed limited sharing to MA police and NESPIN (New England State Police Information Network). NESPIN contains police agencies outside of Massachusetts. It is also possible that agencies with whom WPD is sharing data in MA could collaborate with federal agencies.
Waltham PD could share Flock data with Federal agencies
Despite Waltham Police’s public assurance that they do not collaborate with ICE, their Flock sharing records indicate the clear possibility otherwise. The Flock sharing agreements show Waltham PD is sharing their Flock data with 559 other law enforcement agencies across the country including two federal agencies (USPS and
A Police Records Request received November 3, 2025 includes among the following:
- Flock contract
- Master Services Agreement (MSA)
- Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
- Purchase Order
- Sole Source letter
The request included a poorly formatted list of agencies with whom Waltham PD is sharing their Flock data (pages 54-68). Clarification was requested and a properly formatted PDF was received and is available here.
This was run through text recognition and is provided in a CSV file. May contain errors.
Documents obtained from a public records request outline communications between Waltham PD and Flock Safety throughout the negotiation process between January and July of 2025. This offers an inside perspective on how police departments approach these contracts, what services they are told they provide, and who is involved in the process. It also confirms Waltham PD intended to formulate policies surrounding the use, requested samples from other departments, but ultimately never implemented any prior to installation.
Next Steps
This latest release has a lot of information.
Ways you can help:
- Read thoroughly and identify any concerning items
- Understand full capabilities of this technology. There are lots of rumors online, but the contract should spell out exactly what features these cameras have
- Break down the procurement process – was it signed too quickly per city procuremenet rules, was the sole source process followed to every letter of the law?
- Turn the table of departments with which Waltham PD is sharing their Flock footage into usable text
- Identify missing cameras on DeFlock.me map and add to OpenStreetMaps
Submit any information that you think should be added to this page via email:
waltham at eyesoffma dot com
A Police Records Request received October 10, 2025 states that documents identifying the location and number of Flock Safety cameras installed does not exist, and that policies, guidelines, or standard operating procedures regarding the use of Flock Safety cameras and data also do not exist.
The ACLU of Massachusetts has an excellent article about Flock in Massachusetts, including this screenshot of the sales team at Flock’s communication with Waltham PD in March 2025.
Flock’s official transparency portal for Waltham as of 11/3/2025
Additional Resources
Reddit posts
First post identifying a Flock camera in Waltham
User discusses financial documents, likely obtained through FOIA request from Waltham PD
Mayor Jean McCarthy ignores Flock records request – note, this request likely should have gone to the Police, not the mayor, but the response leaves much room for improvement.
User summarizes resolution introduced to establish data policies
Discussion surrounding updated FOIA request appealing the original request to Waltham PD
Take Action
Join us to promote legislature to ban these unconstitutional platforms. And from a harm reduction standpoint, implement legislature to minimize the scope, amount, and duration during which data is stored.
Contact your Councillors at Large
Councillors at Large represent every resident of Waltham. Email, call, or write them to express your desire to remove Flock cameras from the city. Be polite, and share personal reasons as to why you think this is important. Remember, they work for you.
Colleen Bradley-MacArthur (likely receptive to anti-Flock legislation)
Paul Brasco (likely against anti-Flock legislation)
Emma Tzioumis (likely receptive to anti-Flock legislation)
Contact your Ward Councillor
Ward councillors represent specific neighborhoods. Find out who your ward councillor is here
Speak to your MA House Rep about Bill H.3755
Massachusetts House Bill 3755 is by no means a panacea, but at least some legislators are interested in reigning in the data retention and privacy aspects. Find your House Representative here and contact them about the bill but indicate you are seeking a total ban.
The ACLU also has a tool to automatically email your representatives in support of this bill.
Spread the word
Meet and discuss with your neighbors to increase awareness.
Adapt your talking points. Don’t start off from a political angle. Identify a reason you think it may concern them – be it concerns of sharing with ICE, constitutional rights violation, the ever expanding power of tech companies over the lives of private citizens, or police spying on their exes.
Map missing ALPRs
Find an ALPR not on DeFlock.me’s map? Add it!
Follow instructions here. Not tech savvy? Contact us below. Please take a picture and take note of where the camera was located and we will help you submit.
Contact us
waltham at eyesoffma dot com