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License-plate readers · Pierce County

Pierce County

Using license-plate readers · 7 agencies documented

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Auburn Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
37
37 ALPR cameras citywide as of July 2026, per the Auburn Reporter. The department started with 20 in August 2024.
  1. Aug. 2024 Auburn police deployed 20 Flock plate-reader cameras around the city. (Kent Reporter / Auburn Reporter, Aug. 22, 2024)
  2. July 13, 2026 At a council study session, the City Council, Police Chief Mark Caillier and residents met with a Flock representative. (Auburn Reporter, July 22, 2026)
  3. July 20, 2026 At the council meeting, more than 15 residents spoke, most of them opposed to the cameras; the council took no action, and the chief said police would keep using them. As of July 22, Auburn's Flock portal showed 21-day retention and about 622,000 unique vehicles detected over 30 days. (Auburn Reporter, July 22, 2026)
  4. Aug. 2026 KIRO 7 listed Auburn among cities using Flock. (KIRO 7, Aug. 17, 2026)

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Pierce County Sheriff's Office

Status
Use suspended
Vendors
Axon
Cameras
200
An "estimated 200" in-car readers built into deputies' Axon dashboard cameras, installed in early 2024, per The Seattle Times (Mar. 31, 2026).
  1. 2024 Axon in-car license plate readers were installed in most deputies' patrol vehicles in early 2024. (The Seattle Times, March 31, 2026)
  2. March 30, 2026 The sheriff's office turned off all of its in-car license plate readers the day the state Driver Privacy Act (SB 6002) took effect, saying it had no way to keep the cameras from reading plates in areas the law restricts, such as near schools, courts, food banks and places of worship. Sheriff Keith Swank said the decision "was not made lightly"; the office said it would look at lawful alternatives. (KIRO 7, March 30, 2026; The Seattle Times, March 31, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Deputies must now type plate numbers into a database by hand, per The Seattle Times.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Puyallup Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety, Axon
Cameras
39
39 fixed Flock cameras, per Chief Scott Engle in The News Tribune (April 2026); the Flock portal showed 35 owned cameras when last updated Oct. 3, 2024.
Contract
Flock Safety: $246,550 total · from Dec. 2023 · approved by Puyallup City Council · Two-year contract for software and equipment, approved on the consent agenda per the Dec. 5, 2023 agenda; expired, and the city has since paid $3,306 a month (a figure that also covers park safety cameras). (The News Tribune (Tacoma), April 2026)
  1. Dec. 5, 2023 City Council approved a two-year, $246,550 Flock contract as part of its consent agenda. (The News Tribune (Tacoma), April 2026)
  2. Oct. 3, 2024 Flock transparency portal listed 35 owned cameras, 30-day retention and 777,340 vehicles detected in the prior 30 days. (Flock Safety, Oct. 3, 2024)
  3. Oct. 22, 2025 The department turned off Flock's national lookup feature. (The News Tribune (Tacoma), April 2026)
  4. April 2026 With the original contract expired, the city kept the cameras running while waiting on state rules before deciding on renewal; Chief Scott Engle said three cameras might have to be moved or turned off under the new state law. The department's Axon in-car reader program on two patrol cars was off. (The News Tribune (Tacoma), April 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • As of April 2, 2026 the portal showed 670,863 vehicles detected in 30 days, 2,141 hot-list hits and 443 searches, with 21-day retention, per The News Tribune.
  • 91 agencies had access, 88 of them law enforcement, all in Washington, per The News Tribune.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Lakewood Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
36
36 cameras on the Flock transparency portal, last updated Oct. 22, 2024.
  1. Oct. 22, 2024 Flock transparency portal listed 36 cameras, 30-day retention and 504,888 vehicles detected in the prior 30 days. (Flock Safety, Oct. 22, 2024)
  2. April 2026 The News Tribune reported Lakewood uses Flock and had turned off the national lookup feature. (The News Tribune (Tacoma), April 2026)

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Eatonville Police Department

Status
Ended or removed
Vendors
Flock Safety
  1. April 2026 The News Tribune reported Eatonville had terminated its Flock contract, its cameras were off and its transparency portal was deactivated. (The News Tribune (Tacoma), April 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Termination date not given in the source; event dated to the article.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Bonney Lake Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
  1. April 2026 The News Tribune listed Bonney Lake among Pierce County cities using Flock. (The News Tribune (Tacoma), April 2026)

Secondhand report; not yet confirmed with the agency.

Sumner Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
  1. April 2026 The News Tribune listed Sumner among Pierce County cities using Flock. (The News Tribune (Tacoma), April 2026)

Secondhand report; not yet confirmed with the agency.

Statewide

  1. 2025 A University of Washington Center for Human Rights report on Flock networks in the state said as many as 80 public agencies in Washington reportedly use Flock, and examined how agencies share the data, including with federal agencies. (University of Washington Center for Human Rights, Oct. 21, 2025)
  2. Feb. 4, 2026 The state Senate passed Senate Bill 6002, sponsored by Sen. Yasmin Trudeau (D-Tacoma), 40-9. At that stage the bill required plate-reader data to be deleted within 21 days unless needed as evidence (a Senate committee had lengthened this from 72 hours), largely barred sharing, banned use for civil immigration enforcement and kept the data out of public records requests, apart from use in research. (Washington State Standard / KUOW, Feb. 5, 2026)
  3. March 2026 The state House passed SB 6002 84-10 in early March 2026. The House version added gross misdemeanors to the permitted investigative uses, and the bill returned to the Senate for concurrence. (Washington State Standard, March 6, 2026)
  4. March 30, 2026 Gov. Bob Ferguson signed SB 6002 on March 30, 2026, and it took effect at once. Police may now run plate searches only for felony or gross-misdemeanor cases, stolen cars, cars linked to people with arrest warrants, and missing or endangered people (with exceptions). Reads must be purged after 21 days unless kept as evidence, and they can be shared only for court cases. The law forbids using the readers for immigration enforcement or to monitor protected activity such as speech. It forbids collecting data near protected health care or immigration sites, schools, courts, food banks and houses of worship. Agencies must log who accessed the data and keep those logs for two years, and the data is closed to public records requests except for research. (Washington State Standard / KUOW, March 31, 2026)
  5. March 30, 2026 SB 6002 directs the Attorney General's Office to develop model plate-reader policies by July 1, 2027. Agencies must adopt them by December 2027. (Washington State Standard / KUOW, March 31, 2026; Washington State Standard, March 6, 2026)
  6. March 30, 2026 Flock Safety said it was already complying with parts of the law, such as purging data after 21 days. (Washington State Standard / KUOW, March 31, 2026)