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License-plate readers · Denver

Denver

Using license-plate readers · 1 agency documented

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Denver Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Axon, Flock Safety
Cameras
50
Axon fixed plate-reader cameras under the 2026 contract, as reported (planned/installed count, 50). The earlier Flock network had 111 cameras; Denver shut Flock off on March 31, 2026.
Contract
Axon: $150,000 total · approved by City Council · One-year Axon plate-reader contract approved 7-6 on March 31, 2026. Reported retention 21 days; city says Axon has no national lookup and Denver owns the data. Exact start/end dates not reported. (Denverite, March 31, 2026; Denver7, March 31, 2026; Denverite, Feb. 24, 2026)
Contract
Flock Safety: $666,000 total · Proposed two-year extension of the Flock pilot; City Council rejected it 12-0 in May 2025, so it never took effect. (Axios Denver, May 5, 2025)
Contract
Flock Safety: $0 total · from Oct. 22, 2025 · to March 31, 2026 · Mayor's office announced a five-month extension with no added cost, running through March 31, 2026, without a council vote. Terms included a $100,000 penalty on Flock for improper or federal sharing. (CBS Colorado, Oct. 22, 2025; Denver7, Oct. 22, 2025)
  1. May 2024 Denver police began operating Flock plate-reader cameras under a pilot. (Denver7, Oct. 22, 2025; Denverite, Feb. 24, 2026)
  2. Sept. 2024 DPD reported 95 Flock cameras deployed, with the network planned to reach 111. (Denverite, Sept. 19, 2024)
  3. April 8, 2025 DPD turned off Flock's National Lookup feature for Denver's data, days after council members questioned the department. (Denverite, July 1, 2025)
  4. May 2025 City Council voted 12-0 against a two-year, $666,000 extension of the Flock contract after the mayor's office withdrew its support. Axios reported the vote as taking place on a Monday; its story is dated May 5, 2025. (Axios Denver, May 5, 2025)
  5. Oct. 22, 2025 Mayor Mike Johnston announced a no-cost, five-month Flock extension through March 31, 2026. Under its terms, data access was limited to DPD and agencies that sign an MOU with the city, and searches tied to immigration or reproductive health care were barred. (CBS Colorado, Oct. 22, 2025; Denver7, Oct. 22, 2025)
  6. Feb. 24, 2026 The mayor announced Denver would stop using Flock and seek an Axon plate-reader contract for about 50 cameras. (Denverite, Feb. 24, 2026; CBS Colorado, Feb. 25, 2026)
  7. March 31, 2026 City Council approved the one-year, $150,000 Axon contract on a 7-6 vote. Voting yes: Watson, Flynn, Hinds, Alvidrez, Sawyer, Romero Campbell, Sandoval. Voting no: Parady, Gilmore, Gonzales-Gutierrez, Lewis, Kashmann, Torres. (Denverite, March 31, 2026)
  8. March 31, 2026 Denver decommissioned its Flock plate-reader system, going from 111 cameras to 50 Axon cameras, according to the police chief. (Denver7, March 31, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • The Axon terms bar giving Denver data to anyone for civil immigration enforcement or abortion-related investigations, bar using it to train AI models, and bar selling it, according to the city.
  • Chief Ron Thomas said Denver will not give other jurisdictions access to its Axon system.
  • Under the October 2025 Flock extension, an agency that shared Denver data with federal immigration authorities would lose access and be referred to the Colorado Attorney General.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

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.