Tempe joins growing list of Arizona cities pulling plug on Flock license plate readers

Tempe is the latest Valley city to ditch the Flock Safety automated license plate reader system.

The East Valley suburb announced Wednesday that it turned off the Flock cameras and canceled its contract with the company. Additionally, Tempe said it will not seek a replacement license plate reader system from another company.

City officials made the move after determining the risk of the system being improperly used outweighed its benefits.

While audits have not revealed any misuse in Tempe, other communities around Arizona have reported similar concerns or specific instances where the cameras were used inappropriately.

“These cameras have helped our police officers do their jobs, and we don’t discount that. But the risk of misuse is too great,” Mayor Corey Woods said in a press release. “We have to be able to provide public safety in a way that maintains the trust of our community. For Tempe, that means taking these cameras down.”

Tempe previously stopped sharing Flock system data

The move came about two weeks after Tempe stopped all data sharing from its Flock plate readers and launched a public transparency portal in response to community privacy concerns. The portal will be discontinued now that the cameras are turned off.

“We have a responsibility to ensure that these technologies are only employed if they present a narrowly tailored solution to a compelling government interest,” Tempe Councilmember Bobby Nichols said in the release. “I’m grateful to the city staff for this quick action and responsiveness to constituents’ concerns.”

Data previously collected by Tempe’s Flock cameras is automatically deleted after 30 days of storage. The equipment will remain in place until the company removes it.

The following Arizona municipalities have cut ties with Flock recently or announced plans to do so when contracts expire:

• Surprise
• Chandler
• Pinal County
• Sierra Vista
• South Tucson
• Flagstaff
• Sedona

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