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License-plate readers · Warren

Warren

Using license-plate readers · 2 agencies documented

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Bowling Green Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
10
Ten Flock cameras in BGPD's own network, nine fixed and one portable, per WKU Public Radio (Jan. 22, 2026). Spectrum News reported nine cameras the same day, and WBKO reported 10 in July 2026. The count does not include cameras run by the drug task force, the sheriff or private retailers.
Sources
WKU Public Radio, Jan. 22, 2026; Spectrum News 1, Jan. 22, 2026; WBKO, July 23, 2026; WBKO, July 17, 2024
  1. July 2024 WBKO reported that BGPD was getting Flock cameras of its own, separate from the county drug task force's cameras. (WBKO, July 17, 2024)
  2. Jan. 2026 BGPD explained its Flock program in public. It said images are kept up to 30 days, a case number and reason are required for each search, and it does not give its logins to ICE. It also said early plans could double the number of cameras. (WKU Public Radio, Jan. 22, 2026; Spectrum News 1, Jan. 22, 2026)
  3. July 2026 BGPD responded to national reports of Flock security weaknesses. It said security at the company level is outside its control and that photos are deleted after 30 days. (WBKO, July 23, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Start date unclear. WBKO (July 2026) says BGPD started using Flock in January 2026. But WKU Public Radio (Jan. 2026) says the cameras went in during 2025, and WBKO's July 2024 story said BGPD was then acquiring cameras.
  • BGPD has said it does not publish its camera map, because publishing it could hinder investigations.
  • The sources give no contract amount, term or approving body.
  • BGPD said it can search cameras in Tennessee, Indiana, Ohio and Illinois, and that other agencies can search its data.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Bowling Green-Warren County Drug Task Force

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
Count not documented
No count tied to the task force. The Bowling Green Daily News (Dec. 20, 2025) counted 12 Flock cameras in Warren County, 10 inside city limits, without saying which agency runs them; the city figure may overlap with BGPD's own 10. The 2024 funding plan called for 13 cameras overseen by the task force: 11 fixed and 2 mobile.
Contract
Flock Safety: about $85,000 total · from July 2024 · approved by Warren County Fiscal Court, July 2024 (a Thursday meeting before July 17, 2024) (WBKO, July 17, 2024)
Sources
WBKO, July 17, 2024; WNKY, Dec. 16, 2025; Bowling Green Daily News, Dec. 20, 2025
  1. July 2024 Warren County Fiscal Court approved about $85,000 to buy and install 13 license plate cameras, to be overseen by the drug task force. A second phase aimed for 24 cameras. (WBKO, July 17, 2024)
  2. Dec. 2025 The task force director described how the cameras work. They capture plate images only, and photos are deleted after 30 days. (WNKY, Dec. 16, 2025)
  3. Dec. 18, 2025 A resident asked Warren County Fiscal Court to pause the camera system while it is reviewed. No vote was reported. (Bowling Green Daily News, Dec. 20, 2025)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Fiscal Court meeting date: WBKO refers only to 'Thursday's' meeting in a story published July 17, 2024, so the event is dated to the month.
  • WBKO's 2024 story did not name the vendor. Later reporting (Bowling Green Daily News, WNKY) identifies the cameras as Flock.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Statewide

  1. April 5, 2022 Flock Safety told Spectrum News it had 34 Kentucky customers, 14 of them law enforcement agencies, but declined to name them. At that time Kentucky had no law limiting how long plate-reader data could be kept. (Spectrum News 1, April 5, 2022)
  2. Feb. 28, 2024 Senate Bill 380 (Sen. Adrienne Southworth) was filed. It would have defined who may use plate readers, set privacy safeguards, and let Kentucky State Police run an annual review of ALPR users. It was sent to the Senate Transportation Committee on March 1, 2024, and went no further. (Kentucky Legislative Research Commission, March 1, 2024)
  3. Jan. 7, 2026 Rep. John Hodgson (R-Fisherville) filed House Bill 58 to regulate automated license plate readers. Spectrum News reported that a similar Hodgson bill had passed the House 90-1 in the 2025 session, but the Senate did not take it up. (Kentucky Legislative Research Commission, April 10, 2026; Spectrum News 1, Jan. 12, 2026)
  4. Jan. 14, 2026 Rep. T.J. Roberts (R-Burlington) filed House Bill 375. It would ban the use of plate readers, make a violation a Class D felony with a $10,000 fine, and allow civil suits. The bill was sent to the House Transportation Committee on Jan. 22, 2026, and saw no further action. (Kentucky Legislative Research Commission, Jan. 22, 2026)
  5. Feb. 11, 2026 The House Judiciary Committee approved a revised HB 58 without opposition. As approved by the committee, the bill capped retention at 90 days unless the data is needed as evidence, limited sharing to other law enforcement agencies and the National Insurance Crime Bureau, and required officers to visually confirm a plate match before a stop. (Kentucky Legislative Research Commission, April 10, 2026; Louisville Public Media / Kentucky Public Radio (via WKMS), Feb. 11, 2026)
  6. Feb. 18, 2026 The House passed HB 58 on an 89-9 vote. (Kentucky Legislative Research Commission, April 10, 2026)
  7. March 24, 2026 The Senate passed an amended HB 58 on a 34-3 vote. (Kentucky Legislative Research Commission, April 10, 2026)
  8. March 31, 2026 The House voted 70-19 to accept the Senate changes to HB 58 and sent the bill to the governor. (Kentucky Legislative Research Commission, April 10, 2026)
  9. April 10, 2026 Gov. Andy Beshear signed HB 58 (Acts Chapter 71). It adds a new section to KRS Chapter 189 that limits ALPR use and the use and sale of ALPR data, sets a 90-day retention cap with exceptions for investigations and evidence-preservation notices, and requires law enforcement agencies to adopt and publish an ALPR policy. It also sets up a Transportation Cabinet permit process for readers on highway rights-of-way, lets the Cabinet, its contractors, insurers and lenders collect ALPR data for specified purposes, and adds a penalty in KRS 189.990. (Kentucky Legislative Research Commission, April 10, 2026)
  10. July 15, 2026 HB 58 took effect statewide, according to LEX 18. Hodgson told the station the bill took four years to pass. (LEX 18, July 16, 2026)
  11. July 2026 U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) said in a social media post that he planned a federal bill to cut funding to cities and police departments that use Flock cameras. No bill number or text was reported. (WBKO (story originated at WAVE), July 29, 2026)
  12. Sept. 3, 2026 The legislature's Interim Joint Committee on Judiciary heard testimony on plate readers from Flock Safety, the Kentucky Retail Federation, Elizabethtown Police Chief Jeremy Thompson, the ACLU and ACLU of Kentucky, and the Cato Institute. Written statements came from Axon, Motorola Solutions, the Kentucky Fraternal Order of Police and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. The ACLU of Kentucky asked governments to pause Flock contracts and order independent audits. (Kentucky Legislative Research Commission, Sept. 3, 2026; WUKY, Sept. 3, 2026; WKYT, Sept. 3, 2026; Kentucky State Fraternal Order of Police (via Kentucky LRC), Sept. 3, 2026)