Salem Activists Respond to City's Announcement Terminating Flock Contract

The City of Salem announced yesterday that it was terminating its contract with Flock Safety. Although this statement delivered welcomed news, it neglected to mention the community organizing effort that instigated the city's decision.

For the last eight months, a coalition of grassroots organizations and concerned residents worked in partnership with the ACLU of Massachusetts to urge Salem city leaders to cancel its contract with Flock Safety. This effort was led by North Shore Progressives founder Isa Leshko and a steering committee comprised of Jeff Gross, Emmylou Manwill, Alexandra Piñeros Shields and Alphonse Wright. (Alyssa Rosemartin was on the steering committee until June.)

The coalition's steering committee released the following statement today, which we are publishing in its entirety.

Statement

Local activists congratulate the City of Salem on its decision to terminate its contract with Flock Safety. This decision is the result of an eight-month organizing effort by a coalition of local grassroots organizations and concerned Salem residents in partnership with the ACLU of Massachusetts. 

Campaign Background

We launched this campaign after we had learned that data from our city’s license plate readers (LPRs) was being shared openly on Flock’s AI-enabled surveillance network. 

Thousands of local and state law enforcement agencies routinely search this network to find motorists in real time and track their prior movements – without any warrants, probable cause, or even suspicion of wrongdoing. This includes law enforcement deputized to enforce immigration on ICE’s behalf and by states with strict bans on reproductive and/or gender affirming health care. 

We believe that sharing Salem’s LPR data on Flock’s dragnet surveillance network violated our city’s values, eroded trust in local law enforcement, and endangered our community. We also were troubled by highly problematic language in Flock’s contract that significantly diminished Salem’s control of its own data and gave too much power to a private company that lacks transparency and public accountability.

Municipalities: Beware of Changes in Flock’s Legal Terms if You’re Using or Considering License Plate Readers | ACLU

A flurry of Flock contract changes disempower customers

American Civil Liberties UnionJay Stanley

Dialogue With City Leaders

In February we sent a letter to Salem city leaders that outlined our concerns with Salem Police Department’s usage of Flock’s LPRs.

Representatives of our coalition along with ACLU Technology for Liberty policy counsel Gideon Epstein met with Mayor Dominick Pangallo, Chief Lucas Miller, and City Solicitor James Wellock in March and May. At these meetings, we were joined by City Councillor at Large Kyle Davis and Ward 6 Councillor Katelyn Holappa.  

We are immensely grateful that Mayor Pangallo and Chief Miller took our concerns seriously and terminated the city’s contract with Flock Safety. 

Next Steps

Our coalition is scheduled to meet with city leaders again next week to receive an update on Chief Miller’s search for a Flock alternative and to discuss guardrails we have requested to keep Salem residents and visitors safe.

Salem Coalition Requests

Date Sent: 7/8/26 Salem Coalition LPR Requests Contact: Isa Leshko (NorthShoreProgressives@proton.me) This document outlines the list of requests developed from interviews with members of our coalition. Isa read this list of high-level items at our May 26th meeting, and she has provided additio…

Google Docs

Many of the dangers posed by ALPR technology are not unique to Flock. The guardrails we have asked for will minimize—but not eliminate—these risks. 

As the Trump Administration intensifies its surveillance of immigrants and other historically marginalized communities, it’s vital that city leaders protect us by enacting strict guardrails or outright eliminating surveillance technologies (like ALPRs) that ICE and other federal agencies rely upon. 

We look forward to continuing to work with Mayor Pangallo and Chief Miller to protect all residents of Salem by aligning our city’s policies with Salem’s values.

Additional Resources

Are Your Local Police Using Flock Safety ALPRs to Scan for Immigrants?

When a car passes an automated license plate reader (ALPR), its plate is captured and instantly compared against a list of vehicles that police are actively looking for or that police have identified for real-time surveillance. These are called “hotlists,” and EFF has learned that one used by…

Electronic Frontier FoundationDave Maass

Police keep losing their jobs for using Flock cameras to stalk people

Advocates say it’s too easy to abuse automated license plate reader technology.

Mother JonesSophie Hurwitz

Flock Gives Law Enforcement All Over the Country Access to Your Location – The Data for Justice Project | ACLU of Massachusetts

logoGideon Epstein

Flock Local Conversation Guide - ACLU of Massachusetts

Tell ALPRs in your community to “Get the Flock Out!” We the people can put a stop to unrestrained mass surveillance in our communities.

ACLU of Massachusetts