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License-plate readers · Adams

Adams

Using license-plate readers · 7 agencies documented

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Brighton Police Department

Status
Program documented, current use unconfirmed
Vendors
Axon
Cameras
Count not documented
The 2021 contract outfits 25 marked patrol cars with two dash cameras each and includes automatic license plate reading. The number of ALPR units is not stated.
Contract
Axon: $2,700,000 total · from June 2021 · approved by City Council · A 10-year Axon contract for the Officer Safety Program 7+, covering body cameras, Tasers, cloud storage and in-car dash cameras paired with automatic license plate reading. The ALPR cost is not broken out. The city's June 2021 release describes a Tuesday vote while being dated Wednesday, June 2, so the exact approval date is unclear. No source confirms the contract remains in force or that the ALPR feature is used today. (City of Brighton, June 2, 2021)
  1. June 2021 City Council voted 7-0 to approve a $2.7 million, 10-year Axon contract that includes patrol-car dash cameras with automatic license plate reading. The city's release is dated June 2, 2021 but calls the meeting day Tuesday. (City of Brighton, June 2, 2021)
Conflicts and open questions
  • CBS Colorado reported in September 2025 that Brighton refused its open-records request for Flock sharing data. Whether Brighton also uses Flock is unconfirmed; see unresolved and leads.

From agency records.

Commerce City Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
Count not documented
Reported as 'more than two dozen' Flock license plate readers in April 2026. No exact count.
Contract
Flock Safety: $4,500,000 total · approved by City Council · The Denver Gazette reported a five-year, $4.5 million Flock contract approved in April 2026. The city's recap lists a long-term Flock lease and a $608,900 amendment to the 2026 budget for a Flock expansion project, each passed 7-2 on second reading April 6, 2026. The Gazette did not say what the $4.5 million covers; Denver7 reported the city's Flock program also includes drones and fixed zoom cameras. (The Denver Gazette, Sept. 25, 2026; City of Commerce City, April 7, 2026)
  1. April 2026 Cmdr. Jeremy Jenkins told Denver7 the city has more than two dozen Flock plate readers and does not share data outside Colorado or with federal agencies (story published April 9, 2026). (Denver7, April 9, 2026)
  2. April 6, 2026 City Council passed the Flock lease and the related $608,900 budget amendment, 7-2 each, on second reading. (City of Commerce City, April 7, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Cmdr. Jeremy Jenkins said the city keeps its data inside Colorado, gives no federal agency access, and does not use its Flock technology for proactive surveillance.
  • Police Chief Darrel Guadnola reported 36 stolen-vehicle recoveries over three years of Flock use, according to the Denver Gazette.

From agency records.

Northglenn Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
10
10 Flock LPR cameras, per Flock, as cited by Westword in early 2026.
  1. Sept. 2025 Northglenn released Flock sharing data in response to a CBS Colorado records request and allowed nationwide searches at the time. (CBS Colorado, Sept. 22, 2025)
  2. 2026 Westword, citing Flock, counted 10 Flock plate-reader cameras in Northglenn (article published between Feb. 24 and March 2026). (Westword, date not shown)
Conflicts and open questions
  • In September 2025, CBS Colorado reported that Northglenn released its sharing data in response to a records request and allowed nationwide searches at that time. No later update on its sharing settings was found.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Thornton Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
21
21 ALPR cameras in operation, including 15 Flock cameras, as reported in April 2026. Westword separately cited 16 per Flock. The department's page gives no count.
Contract
Flock Safety: $50,750 total · from 2022 · Initial purchase and installation, paid with a federal JAG grant. The 2025 annual renewal cost $48,139.48, and the 2026 budget request was $51,000. The department's document list includes an Insight Public Sector award and agreement; no further detail is given. (Thornton Police Department, date not shown)
  1. 2022 Thornton police added Flock cameras at city entry points. A different, unnamed ALPR vendor was in use before Flock. (Thornton Police Department, date not shown)
  2. 2026 Westword, citing Flock, counted 16 Flock cameras in Thornton. (Westword, date not shown)
  3. Feb. 3, 2026 The ALPR program was discussed at a City Council planning session. (Thornton Police Department, date not shown)
  4. April 7, 2026 At a council planning session, police presented new audit protocols, including weekly audits of searches. Several council members said their concerns had been addressed, and the council declined to schedule a public forum. (Thornton Police Department, date not shown; Northglenn-Thornton Sentinel, April 9, 2026)
  5. July 30, 2026 Police held a community education meeting on plate readers. (Thornton Police Department, date not shown)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Thornton shares access with other state and local agencies on the Flock network but not with any federal agency. As of February 2026 it had revoked access for more than 2,100 outside agencies, usually because their search reasons were unclear.
  • Data is deleted after 30 days unless it is held as evidence. Barred uses include federal immigration enforcement and enforcing another state's abortion laws.
  • Each search requires a reference number such as a case number. Monthly internal audit reports were published from April through September 2026.

From agency records.

Westminster Police Department

Status
Program documented, current use unconfirmed
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
Count not documented
Count not reported.
  1. Sept. 2025 Westminster released Flock sharing data in response to a CBS Colorado records request and allowed nationwide searches at the time. (CBS Colorado, Sept. 22, 2025)
Conflicts and open questions
  • In September 2025, CBS Colorado reported that Westminster provided Flock sharing data in response to a records request and allowed nationwide searches.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Aurora Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
100
In October 2025, Chief Todd Chamberlain said there were about 100 Flock systems. An undated Westword article, citing Flock, gave about 114. In October 2026, 12 cameras at five high schools were turned off.
Contract
Flock Safety: $65,000 period not stated · Colorado Politics put the cost of the contract for the high-school cameras at about $65,000. It did not say what period or which cameras the figure covers. (Colorado Politics, Oct. 8, 2026)
  1. 2025 APD put Flock cameras on Aurora Public Schools and Cherry Creek School District campuses. (Colorado Politics, Oct. 8, 2026)
  2. Oct. 2025 Chief Todd Chamberlain said the department had about 100 Flock systems and hoped to add more. (FOX31 KDVR (via Yahoo News), Oct. 27, 2025)
  3. May 2026 At Cherry Creek Schools' request, APD removed the cameras on that district's campuses. (Colorado Politics, Oct. 8, 2026)
  4. Oct. 2026 Several council members asked for the change, and APD turned off 12 Flock cameras in the parking lots of five Aurora high schools. Chamberlain said Flock would take them down within three weeks unless the school board started its own contract. (Colorado Politics, Oct. 8, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • The source gives the shutoff day only as Tuesday. The article was published Oct. 8, 2026.
  • In October 2025, the chief said the city had used plate-reader technology for about ten years.
  • Aurora spans Arapahoe, Adams and Douglas counties.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Arvada Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
Count not documented
No dated count. An undated Westword article, citing Flock, said Arvada had 16 Flock cameras. The city page points readers to the Flock transparency portal for the number.
  1. Oct. 2026 The city's ALPR page, viewed in October 2026, says the department uses plate readers from several vendors, including Flock. It lists 30-day retention and bars immigration-enforcement use. (City of Arvada, date not shown)
Conflicts and open questions
  • The city's ALPR page is undated; the 2026-10 date is when it was viewed.

From agency records.

Statewide

  1. May 23, 2025 Gov. Jared Polis signed SB25-276. It extends existing limits on disclosing personal identifying information for federal immigration enforcement from state agencies to counties, cities and other local governments, with civil penalties for intentional violations. The bill text summary does not mention plate readers specifically. Local officials, such as Longmont's police chief, have cited Colorado's bar on sharing personal information for immigration enforcement in discussing plate-reader data. (Complete Colorado, June 9, 2025; ACLU of Colorado, date not shown; Colorado General Assembly, date not shown; Boulder Reporting Lab, Dec. 11, 2025)
  2. 2026 Colorado law currently lets government agencies keep plate-reader data for as long as three years, according to SB26-070 sponsor Sen. Lynda Zamora Wilson (via Colorado Newsline) and CBS Colorado. Flock's default retention is 30 days, CBS Colorado reported. (Colorado Newsline, April 29, 2026; CBS Colorado, Sept. 22, 2025)
  3. Feb. 2026 The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced SB26-070 on a 5-2 vote, with Sens. John Carson and Dylan Roberts opposed. Colorado Newsline reported the vote as taking place on a Monday; its story is dated Feb. 24, 2026. The bill would have required a warrant for plate-reader database searches once three days had passed since a crime, blocked most sharing with out-of-state agencies, prohibited sale of historical data, required audits of who accesses the data, and limited retention to 30 days unless an active investigation needed more. Sponsor: Sen. Lynda Zamora Wilson; co-sponsors Sen. Judy Amabile and Reps. Yara Zokaie and Kenny Nguyen. (Colorado Newsline, Feb. 24, 2026)
  4. April 2026 SB26-070 died on the Senate floor when, at its sponsors' request, it was laid over until July 4, after the session's end. Colorado Newsline reported the day as a Wednesday in a story dated April 29, 2026. Sen. Judy Amabile told Colorado Newsline that Gov. Polis had threatened to veto the bill if it kept the warrant requirement; the governor's office did not immediately respond to the outlet. Police, sheriffs, district attorneys and cities opposed the bill, Colorado Public Radio reported. (Colorado Newsline, April 29, 2026; Colorado Public Radio, April 30, 2026)

State agencies

Colorado State Patrol

Status
Program documented, current use unconfirmed
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
Count not documented
No CSP-owned plate-reader program or count was found.
  1. Nov. 27, 2025 Listed among organizations with access to Boulder PD's Flock data. (Flock Safety / Boulder Police Department, Nov. 27, 2025)
Conflicts and open questions
  • The Boulder PD Flock transparency portal (updated Nov. 27, 2025) lists the Colorado State Patrol among the organizations with access to Boulder's Flock data. That shows access to a local network, not a CSP-run camera program.

From agency records.

Colorado Bureau of Investigation

Status
Program documented, current use unconfirmed
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
Count not documented
No CBI-owned plate-reader program or count was found.
  1. Nov. 27, 2025 Listed among organizations with access to Boulder PD's Flock data. (Flock Safety / Boulder Police Department, Nov. 27, 2025)
Conflicts and open questions
  • The Boulder PD Flock portal (updated Nov. 27, 2025) lists the CBI among the organizations with access to Boulder's Flock data. No information was found on CIAC's handling of plate-reader data.

From agency records.