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License-plate readers · Suffolk County

Suffolk County

Using license-plate readers · 2 agencies documented

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Suffolk County Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
Count not documented
Flock representatives told the county legislature there are about 200 Flock cameras in Suffolk County (ABC7, Oct. 9, 2026). It is not clear which agency or agencies they belong to.
Contract
Flock Safety: $5,000,000 contract value as reported; term not stated · ABC7 says the county has a $5 million Flock contract for license plate readers, without naming the holding agency. It is listed here and under suffolk-sheriff. (WABC-TV (ABC7 New York), Oct. 9, 2026)
  1. June 2026 Have I Been Flocked audit-log data showed 1,194 Flock searches by Suffolk County police and 488 by the Suffolk District Attorney's office in June 2026, per Patch. (Patch, Aug. 6, 2026)
  2. July 31, 2026 Suffolk was finalizing a nearly $4 million, five-year Flock contract for gunshot detection to replace ShotSpotter. Officials said it does not include cameras or license plate readers. It was approved through the RFP Waiver Committee; Legislator Greg Doroski said lawmakers were not told beforehand. (News 12 Long Island, July 31, 2026)
  3. Oct. 8, 2026 At a legislature hearing, Flock said data is kept 30 days and each community decides who it is shared with. Lawmakers delayed the separate $4 million gunshot-detection contract and said they would keep reviewing access policies. (WABC-TV (ABC7 New York), Oct. 9, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Which agency holds the $5 million LPR contract and owns the about 200 cameras is not established. FOIL to the county is needed.
  • Some event dates here are inferred from weekday references (such as “Tuesday”) in news reports; confirm from meeting records.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Suffolk County Sheriff's Office

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
Count not documented
No sheriff-specific count found. See the about 200 county-wide Flock cameras noted under suffolk-police.
  1. April 2026 Southold police said 8 of their 11 Flock cameras were donated by the Sheriff's Office and monitored by town police dispatch; the other 3 were bought with LETECH grant funding. (The Suffolk Times, April 2026)
  2. June 18, 2026 At the legislature's Public Safety Committee, legislators said the Sheriff's Office had assured them only local agencies can reach Flock data without county permission and that it has opted out of national sharing. (Suffolk County Legislature, June 18, 2026)
  3. Aug. 19, 2026 Sheriff's investigator Sgt. Richard Tedesco said the office shares Flock cameras with local agencies "throughout the country" and that "the only federal agency we're sharing with currently is the postal police." (News 12 Long Island, Aug. 19, 2026)
  4. Sept. 3, 2026 The legislature's Public Safety Committee adjourned before Legislator Doroski could question a sheriff's representative about Flock. Flock did not attend despite an invitation. (News 12 Long Island, Sept. 3, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Statements on sharing come from legislators and a sheriff's sergeant. No posted sheriff's policy or transparency page was found.
  • The Suffolk County Sheriff runs jails and some patrol functions; the county police handle most patrol in the five western towns.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Statewide

  1. Jan. 2011 DCJS published suggested guidelines for operating license plate readers, written with an LPR advisory panel. They are advisory: agencies are urged to build their own protocols from them, and the model policy leaves the retention period blank for each agency to fill in. The document does not describe a state repository for scan data. (New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, Jan. 2011)
  2. Sept. 25, 2023 DCJS's Law Enforcement Technology (LETECH) request for applications listed fixed and mobile license plate readers as eligible purchases for agencies outside New York City. It set no LPR-specific conditions on retention, sharing or policy; the only model policy it linked was for body-worn cameras. Program size about $50,000,000. (New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, Sept. 25, 2023)
  3. May 13, 2024 Gov. Hochul announced $127 million in DCJS technology grants to 378 police and sheriff agencies outside New York City. License plate readers made up 22 percent of the funding, per the announcement (no dollar figure for LPRs stated). (Office of the Governor of New York, May 13, 2024)
  4. Jan. 8, 2025 A907 (Assembly, Paulin) and S963 (Senate, Hoylman-Sigal) introduced. They would have the Municipal Police Training Council write a minimum-standards ALPR policy covering uses, sharing, retention and training, to be posted by every state and local law enforcement agency. No retention period is set. A907A was amended March 4, 2026, reported April 21 and advanced to third reading April 23, 2026; the Senate site now lists S10419 as its companion. S963 has stayed in the Senate Consumer Protection Committee. Earlier versions date to 2015; the 2023-24 Assembly version passed the Assembly and died in the Senate. (New York State Senate (Open Legislation), Jan. 8, 2025; New York State Senate, Jan. 8, 2025)
  5. April 1, 2026 A10808 (Assemblymember Pamela Hunter) and its Senate companion S9890 (Sen. Michelle Hinchey, introduced April 13) introduced. They would limit government ALPR use to listed purposes, require deletion of plate data within 48 hours with exceptions, bar sharing outside New York State government except in listed cases, require a warrant for private plate data, and give a private right of action with $1,000 liquidated damages. Both remain in committee. (New York State Senate (Open Legislation), April 1, 2026; New York State Senate, April 13, 2026)
  6. May 15, 2026 S10419 (Sen. Kristen Gonzalez) introduced, a Senate version of the Municipal Police Training Council minimum-standards approach; referred to Consumer Protection. (New York State Senate, May 15, 2026)
  7. June 4, 2026 A563A (Paulin) / S10227 (Cooney) passed the Senate 60-0, having passed the Assembly Jan. 12, 2026. It requires non-law-enforcement and non-government users of ALPRs to adopt and post a policy based on a Department of State standard. It does not cover police. The legislature's site showed no delivery to the governor, signature or veto as of Oct. 17, 2026. (New York State Senate (Open Legislation), Jan. 8, 2025; New York State Senate, May 7, 2026)
  8. July 11, 2026 DCJS opened a new round of about $75 million in LETECH grants (part of a $100 million package) for agencies outside New York City, with license plate readers among eligible purchases, per Hoodline. Applications were due Sept. 2; contracts are expected to run Jan. 1, 2027 through Dec. 31, 2028. Spectrum News reported $100 million available this year. (Hoodline, July 11, 2026; Spectrum News 1, Aug. 10, 2026)
  9. Aug. 25, 2026 The Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.) and LatinoJustice PRLDEF released a report using Flock audit logs. It found New York officers had logged Flock searches with reasons such as "Immigration (civil/administrative)" or "Wanted by ICE." Nassau County police, Beacon, Glen Cove and Cheektowaga were named for explicit immigration-related searches. State Police, the New York State Intelligence Center and Lancaster police were named for search patterns the authors read as possible undisclosed immigration searches. Recommendations: a statewide 48-hour retention limit, search documentation sent to the Attorney General, searches limited to felonies, stolen vehicles and missing persons, and no sharing with ICE. (StateScoop, Aug. 25, 2026; Surveillance Technology Oversight Project and LatinoJustice PRLDEF, date not shown)
  10. Aug. 25, 2026 StateScoop reported that the state budget's Local Cops, Local Crimes Act bars local police from formal or informal arrangements to help federal immigration enforcement. It does not name license plate readers; the report's authors argue Flock searches done for ICE could fall under it. The S.T.O.P. report says the Attorney General's Office of Immigrant Trust enforces the law. (StateScoop, Aug. 25, 2026; Surveillance Technology Oversight Project and LatinoJustice PRLDEF, date not shown)
  11. Sept. 15, 2026 WCAX reported that New York has no state law governing ALPR use. North Country legislators from both parties (Assemblyman Michael Cashman, Sen. Dan Stec) said rules are needed. (WCAX, Sept. 15, 2026)
  12. Oct. 5, 2026 Sen. Chuck Schumer sent Flock Safety a letter asking who can search its network, how much vehicle data it holds and what prevents misuse, with answers requested by Oct. 16. No New York agency was named. (FingerLakes1.com, Oct. 5, 2026)

State agencies

New York State Police

Status
Program documented, current use unconfirmed
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
Count not documented
No camera count found; the only record is search activity on Flock's network
  1. March 24, 2025 Per Flock audit logs cited by S.T.O.P./LatinoJustice and StateScoop, a search at the New York State fusion center labeled with a DHS agent reference was followed about an hour later by a State Police officer's search of the same plate, logged as "Investigation." (StateScoop, Aug. 25, 2026; Surveillance Technology Oversight Project and LatinoJustice PRLDEF, date not shown)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Shows State Police users can search Flock's network. It does not show whether State Police own or lease ALPR cameras. No State Police ALPR policy or contract was found; FOIL needed.
  • StateScoop says Executive Order 170 bars state agencies from helping federal civil immigration enforcement, including through license plate readers.

Secondhand report; not yet confirmed with the agency.

New York State Intelligence Center (state fusion center)

Status
Program documented, current use unconfirmed
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
Count not documented
No camera count; search activity only
  1. March 24, 2025 Flock audit logs show a search at the fusion center labeled "SWB 25-03-01 DHS Agent," per StateScoop's account of the S.T.O.P. report. (StateScoop, Aug. 25, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Newburgh's police chief limited the state Crime Analysis Center's access to the city's Flock data on April 14, 2026 (see newburgh-police). The Crime Analysis Center network and the Intelligence Center are separate entities; this was not verified further.

Secondhand report; not yet confirmed with the agency.