News Coverage

What reporters have found

Local and national reporters have been putting out excellent coverage on surveillance, in Alexandria and beyond. Each link below will take you directly to their work.

• The Alexandria Brief · October 28, 2026

  Alexandria CANCELS Flock Contract →

  The Alexandria city Flock contract is canceled and Council now takes up rules for any future surveillance technology on Nov. 10.

• The Daily News-Record · September 23, 2026

  Harrisonburg, VA City Council agrees to ban automated license plate readers →

  Harrisonburg City Council passed an ordinance prohibiting the city from purchasing mounted Automatic License Plate Reader (ALPR) systems.

• The Washington Times · September 22, 2026

  Trump administration inked $200,000-per-year contract for Flock cameras in D.C. area →

  A Trump administration agency is paying Flock Group $231,600 a year to host license plate reader cameras on roads around the Washington area.

• The Alexandria Brief · September 22, 2026

  City Council asks how Alexandria police count their license plate reader successes. The answers are pending. →

  Five new questions appeared Monday on the city's license plate reader page, and the Police Department has not answered any of them.

• The Patch · September 21, 2026

  APD Announces Tech Use Listening Sessions As City Debates Flock Camera Safety →

  The Alexandria Police Department will host two listening sessions in the coming weeks to answer questions about its use of technology.

• The Alexandria Brief · September 21, 2026

  Police to hold first community listening session on technology →

  The Sept. 24 and Oct. 7 sessions are the first public forums since council asked the department to answer questions about its Flock license plate reader program

• The Alexandria Brief · September 18, 2026

  Police chief cut off camera access for agencies with ICE agreements →

  APD is no longer sharing Alexandria's license plate reader data with law enforcement agencies that hold 287(g) agreements with federal immigration authorities, but backdoor access issues remain.

• wtopnews · September 17, 2026

  Arlington, Fairfax counties vote to end use of Flock cameras and related technology →

  The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and the Arlington County Board in Virginia have made major changes to their use of Flock cameras and technology in response to scrutiny in the D.C. region and nationwide for the amount of information they collect without warning from people passing by.

• The Washington Post · September 12, 2026

  D.C. police union, Alexandria leaders voice concerns over Flock technology →

  Recent coverage exploring unlikely partners who "have all come together" to raise Flock ALPR concerns.

• The Alexandria Brief · September 11, 2026

  Alexandria City Council will decide how long police keep license plate data, APD says →

  Alexandria Police Department answers questions on who decides how long ALPR Data is stored, how audits work, whether we are taking advantage of Flock capabilities to lock out certain categories of searches.

• The Washington Sun · September 9, 2026

  Alexandria Leaders Want to Get Rid of the City's Flock Cameras →

  Alexandria's city council meeting on Flock was covered in the inaugural issue of the Washington Sun.

• The Alexandria Brief · September 9, 2026

  Gaskins: 'I do not think there's a role for Flock in this community' →

  Coverage of the City Manager's update to Council regarding Flock on September 8th

• The Alexandria Brief · September 9, 2026

  Four police agencies, one state law, four different sets of rules for license plate cameras →

  A detailed comparison of ALPR policies between the Alexandria Police Department, Sheriff, Northern Virginia Community College Police, and Virginia Tech Police - all of which operate ALPRs within the city.

• The Alexandria Brief · September 6, 2026

  Police won't publish Flock camera locations and have no plans to shorten data retention →

  The Alexandria Police Department will not publish the locations of its Flock license plate readers and has not decided to shorten the 21-day period it keeps the data, the department said in written responses to The Alexandria Brief on Saturday.

• Cardinal News · September 3, 2026

  At least 20 Virginia localities have pulled away from Flock Safety devices since July, with this week’s sweep of camera pauses and canceled contracts →

  Cities all over Virginia are removing Flock because of citizen concerns.

• Alexandria Times · September 2, 2026

  City under watch: Times uncovers more Flock cameras than previously disclosed →

  The Times' own canvass logged at least 81 surveillance-type cameras in the city or on its border — more than any figure the city has published.

• The Alexandria Brief · August 18, 2026

  Alexandria's Flock page now lists the 161 Virginia agencies that can search its cameras →

  After the Mayor asked, the city's transparency page began naming the agencies that can search Alexandria's cameras.