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License-plate readers · Essex County

Essex County

Using license-plate readers · 6 agencies documented

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Beverly Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
Count not documented
No count disclosed.
  1. July 2026 The city was deciding whether to renew its Flock contract the following month. (The Salem News, July 24, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Renewal decision (expected Aug. 2026) not found. A Flock transparency portal exists at transparency.flocksafety.com/beverly-ma-pd but could not be loaded on Oct. 28, 2026.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Haverhill Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
19
19 Flock license plate reader cameras; locations not stated.
Contract
Flock Safety: $137,000 term · to Dec. 31, 2029 · Five-year contract. (The Eagle-Tribune, Aug. 2026)
  1. Aug. 2026 After a presentation by police, the City Council approved motions asking the city solicitor to work with police on guardrails and referred the issue to its public safety subcommittee. (The Eagle-Tribune, Aug. 10, 2026; The Eagle-Tribune, Aug. 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • The council meeting was likely Aug. 11, 2026 (the Tuesday after the Aug. 10 preview); the follow-up article shows no date. Vote counts not given.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Lawrence Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
35
License plate readers, alongside at least 500 city cameras, per the Eagle-Tribune (Aug. 2026); vendor of the 35 readers not stated in that article.
Conflicts and open questions
  • Methuen modeled its program on Lawrence's, per the Eagle-Tribune.
  • No contract, approval or policy record found; records request suggested.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Lynn Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
23
Flock cameras placed on busy streets and at major intersections around the city.
Contract
Flock Safety: about $30,000 annual recurring; $64,000 two-year total including implementation fees term · from June 29, 2026 · to June 29, 2028 · City can terminate if unsatisfied; removal would cost about $500 per camera, roughly $12,000 for all 23. (Daily Item (Lynn), republished by Government Technology, Oct. 14, 2026)
  1. Sept. 2026 Police cut retention of bulk plate data from 30 days to seven and announced added safeguards. (Daily Item (Lynn), republished by Government Technology, Oct. 14, 2026)
  2. Sept. 29, 2026 An updated plate reader policy took effect: seven-day retention, searches tied to a documented reason and case number, weekly audits by the captain of administration, no sharing outside Massachusetts or with federal agencies unless legally required, and a ban on immigration enforcement use. (Daily Item (Lynn), republished by Government Technology, Oct. 14, 2026)
  3. Oct. 2026 City Council unanimously passed a motion requiring police updates on usage, compliance and safeguards over 90 days and asking the legal department for options within 45 days. (Daily Item (Lynn), republished by Government Technology, Oct. 14, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Contract start year inferred from the stated two-year term ending June 29, 2028. Council motion date not stated; article republished Oct. 14, 2026.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Methuen Police Department

Status
Ended or removed
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
Count not documented
Contract covered 22 license plate readers; the number actually installed is not stated.
Contract
Flock Safety: $200,000 total · from Dec. 2025 · to Sept. 2026 · approved by Methuen City Council, Dec. 2025 · Three-year contract for 22 readers near city entrances and exits; city ended Flock use in Sept. 2026. Vote count not reported. (The Eagle-Tribune, Aug. 29, 2026; Boston.com, Sept. 24, 2026)
  1. Dec. 2025 City Council approved a three-year, $200,000 contract for 22 license plate readers. (The Eagle-Tribune, Aug. 29, 2026)
  2. Aug. 2026 The city halted further installations pending an audit of data retention, sharing and access. (The Eagle-Tribune, Aug. 29, 2026)
  3. Sept. 23, 2026 Mayor D.J. Beauregard and Acting Police Chief Jamie Moore said the city was dropping Flock because it gives the city too little control over, and protection of, its data; installed cameras will stay covered until taken down, and the city plans to find a different system. (Boston.com, Sept. 24, 2026; ACLU of Massachusetts, Oct. 27, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Sept. 23 inferred from 'Wednesday' in a Sept. 24, 2026 article.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Salem Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Vendor not named in source, Flock Safety
Cameras
Count not documented
No count disclosed for either the former Flock cameras or the new city-owned readers.
Contract
Flock Safety: year · from 2020 · to June 30, 2026 · Yearly subscription; not renewed. Salem News says Flock was first installed in 2020; the Boston Globe says Salem first contracted in 2021. (The Salem News, July 24, 2026; The Boston Globe, July 30, 2026)
  1. June 30, 2026 The Flock subscription lapsed at the end of June 2026, and the cameras stopped operating the next day. (The Salem News, July 24, 2026)
  2. July 2026 The city said it is now using license plate readers it owns and operates at high-traffic locations, citing data privacy concerns with Flock. (The Salem News, July 24, 2026; The Boston Globe, July 30, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Status 'active' reflects the new city-owned readers; Flock use ended. New vendor and cost not disclosed; records request suggested.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Statewide

  1. Jan. 14, 2015 Sen. Cynthia Creem filed S.1817 in the 2015-2016 session to regulate automatic license plate reader systems, including a 14-day deletion requirement and annual reporting; it was referred to the Transportation committee. A similar bill (S.1648) had been filed in 2013-2014. (Massachusetts Legislature, Jan. 14, 2015)
  2. Jan. 14, 2025 Rep. Steven Owens (D-Watertown) filed H.3755, "An Act establishing driver privacy protections," with Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa added on Jan. 21, 2025. The bill would create a new Chapter 90K limiting government ALPR use: 14-day retention unless tied to a specific criminal investigation, a warrant to reach other entities' ALPR data, no sharing except in judicial proceedings, and no use to track constitutionally protected activity. (Legiplex (Massachusetts Legislature bill record), Feb. 27, 2025; NBC Boston / State House News Service, Sept. 9, 2026)
  3. Oct. 7, 2025 The ACLU of Massachusetts published network audits and contract records it obtained through public records requests to nearly 80 police departments, reporting that Massachusetts police spent over $2 million on Flock technology over three years and that out-of-state agencies searched data from Massachusetts departments. An update on Feb. 26, 2026 said more than 80 Massachusetts police departments have Flock contracts. (ACLU of Massachusetts, Data for Justice Project, Oct. 7, 2025)
  4. Jan. 2026 The ACLU of Massachusetts sent a letter to municipal leaders whose police use Flock or another plate-reader vendor, asking them within 30 days to confirm their vendor, obtain settings and contract terms, disable sharing outside Massachusetts, and end contracts where outside sharing cannot be stopped. (ACLU of Massachusetts, Jan. 1, 2026)
  5. March 2026 The Joint Committee on Transportation endorsed H.3755 on an 11-0 vote, after which the bill went to House Ways and Means, where it remained as of September 2026. Its sponsor said he expects to refile a revised version next session. (NBC Boston / State House News Service, Sept. 9, 2026; The New Bedford Light / State House News Service, Sept. 10, 2026)
  6. Sept. 2026 Gov. Maura Healey's office referred questions on plate readers to the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, whose spokesperson said the office supports appropriate safeguards and will keep monitoring the issue; no executive action was described. A six-member conference committee was working on data privacy legislation (S.2619 / H.5479), which the H.3755 sponsor said may affect ALPR data. (The New Bedford Light / State House News Service, Sept. 10, 2026; NBC Boston / State House News Service, Sept. 9, 2026)
  7. Sept. 2026 The ACLU of Massachusetts said 25 Massachusetts municipalities had canceled Flock contracts or ended pilots over the preceding 18 months. (NBC Boston / State House News Service, Sept. 9, 2026)
  8. Sept. 16, 2026 Rep. Adam Scanlon (D-Bristol) said he plans to file legislation with Rep. Marcus Vaughn setting statewide standards for plate readers, covering data retention, access rules, and auditing. No bill number was given. (Boston 25 News, Sept. 16, 2026)

State agencies

Massachusetts State Police

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Motorola Solutions
Cameras
Count not documented
No count disclosed.
  1. 2020 In 2020, State Police stopped using a plate-reader surveillance system after finding that a glitch had been recording inaccurate data for more than five years, according to MassLive's 2023 reporting. In that same reporting, a State Police spokesperson named Neology as a technology company the agency uses. (MassLive (via Government Technology), Oct. 17, 2023)
  2. 2025 During Boston's 2025 Flock trial, the State Police submitted 2 of the 15 requests to add plates to the Boston system's hot list. (City of Boston, Sept. 15, 2026)
  3. Oct. 7, 2025 The ACLU of Massachusetts reported that the State Police have contracts with Vigilant Solutions, a plate-reader data company. (ACLU of Massachusetts, Data for Justice Project, Oct. 7, 2025)
  4. Sept. 2026 A state public safety spokesperson told the Globe that the State Police do not use Flock Safety cameras. (The Boston Globe, Sept. 2, 2026)
  5. Sept. 4, 2026 In a statement, the State Police said fewer than 2% of members can query ALPR data, that each query requires a case number or reference, a reason, a time period and a geographic area, that users must complete privacy training, and that queries are monitored and audited. (The New Bedford Light / State House News Service, Sept. 10, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Vendor: a State Police spokesperson named Neology in 2023 reporting; in 2025 the ACLU of Massachusetts named Vigilant Solutions, a Motorola Solutions company.
  • The 2020 date is year-only; the source gives no month.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.