{"id":466052,"date":"2026-10-14T19:44:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-14T19:44:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/466052\/"},"modified":"2026-10-14T19:44:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T19:44:08","slug":"plano-approves-taking-down-flock-cameras-police-chief-cites-alleged-misuse-in-other-agencies-shaw-local","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/466052\/","title":{"rendered":"Plano approves taking down Flock cameras; police chief cites alleged misuse in other agencies \u2013 Shaw Local"},"content":{"rendered":"

The city of Plano<\/a> is rescinding its contract with Flock and removing the city\u2019s license plate-reading cameras.<\/p>\n

The move comes after Plano Police<\/a> Chief Norm Allison urged the City Council to vote to end the contract with Flock Group, Inc. and remove the cameras. The council on Oct. 12 unanimously voted to rescind the contract and to immediately shut down the cameras.<\/p>\n

The city is aiming to take down the cameras within 30 days. One of the cameras, at the corner of U.S. Route 34 and Eldamain Road, requires approval from the Illinois Department of Transportation for removal.<\/p>\n

There are currently four Flock cameras within the city.<\/p>\n

Plano awarded Flock a $13,950 contract for the cameras in December 2025. The contract was set to renew on Dec. 10.<\/p>\n

Allison said Flock representatives told him the cameras would be turned off immediately following the City Council\u2019s vote.<\/p>\n

Removal of the four cameras will cost the city $500 per camera.<\/p>\n

Concerns over abuse and privacy<\/p>\n

Allison previously referenced alleged misuse of the cameras by officers in law enforcement agencies across northern Illinois. <\/a> A Joliet <\/a>police<\/a> lieutenant was recently indicted on felony charges of computer tampering and official misconduct regarding the Flock Safety program.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, two former police officers from Itasca<\/a> and West Chicago<\/a> were charged with felony misconduct after authorities alleged<\/a> they made unauthorized searches of Illinois license plates using their access to Flock Safety camera databases, according to the DuPage County<\/a> State\u2019s Attorney\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

There are no current reports of any Plano police officers misusing the technology, according to the police department.<\/p>\n

Allison referenced the pending legal challenges regarding the technology\u2019s use and residents raising privacy and trust concerns.<\/p>\n

\u201cI took into account the amount of department use, I weighed public perception, I looked at the fact there were pending bills and legislation that had yet been decided upon and took into account the fact the purported misuse situation had changed from other states to municipalities close to our jurisdiction,\u201d Allison said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Plano\u2019s Flock Safety System was being used in partnership with KenCom\u2019s multi-agency public safety dispatch efforts.<\/p>\n

The KenCom board recently approved a full audit of its Flock system to check for any unauthorized use<\/a> by law enforcement.<\/p>\n

Across the county, several other towns share access to the system, including police departments in Yorkville<\/a>, Oswego<\/a> and Montgomery<\/a>. The Kendall County Sheriff\u2019s Office<\/a> and several local fire agencies<\/a> also share access.<\/p>\n

KenCom originally approved a $27,500 annual contract with Flock in 2021.<\/p>\n

Proponents of the Flock system argue it provides law enforcement with unparalleled technology to track suspects and investigate serious crimes.<\/p>\n

In Kane County<\/a>, the Kane County Sheriff\u2019s Office agreed to take down cameras in the Mill Creek subdivision<\/a> after its residents voted for their removal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The city of Plano is rescinding its contract with Flock and removing the city\u2019s license plate-reading cameras. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":466053,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[160,18650,162,161],"class_list":["post-466052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-plano","tag-plano","tag-plano-city-council","tag-plano-headlines","tag-plano-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=466052"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466052\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/466053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=466052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=466052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=466052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}