Lowell, Methuen suspend use of Flock cameras

Lowell and Methuen became the latest Massachusetts communities to suspend or end their use of Flock automated license plate reader cameras amid ongoing debate about the use of the surveillance tools.

The Lowell City Council voted 6-5 Tuesday to suspend the use of the city’s Flock cameras indefinitely while it reviews the technology’s use and data-auditing processes. 

The councilors’ lengthy discussion centered on privacy, data concerns, and police misuse of the system, while some also pointed to Flock’s value as an investigative tool for law enforcement. 

“I applaud some of the crimes that they’ve been able to stop across the city,” Councilor Kim Scott said. “What alarmed me was what happened in Boston. Flock was sharing data with outside law enforcements against the wishes of Boston.”

Residents also weighed in on the technology.

“There’s enough states that have lawsuits against them because people take these cameras and they violate people’s rights and illegal searches have happened because of it,” resident Tina Degree said. “The city doesn’t want that.”

The Lowell Police Department released a “Transparency Portal” on Monday that it said would provide information about how officers use the technology.

In Methuen, city officials announced Wednesday that they had ended their use of Flock cameras and halted plans to install additional cameras. The existing ones will be covered while plans are made for their removal, Mayor D.J. Beauregard and Acting Police Chief Jamie Moore said in a joint statement.  

While officials said they found no evidence Methuen personnel misused the system, they said they determined that “Flock does not provide sufficient protections or local control of that data.” 

Beauregard and Moore also cited concerns raised by a Methuen city councilor about searches of her license plate “reportedly conducted by another police department.”

The Lawrence Police Department later clarified that a record showing 359 Flock searches did not represent 359 searches of Methuen Councilor Patricia Valley’s license plate. 

“Rather, the number appears to reflect the officer’s overall FLOCK search activity during a two-year period displayed on the website,” Lawrence police said in a Facebook post. 

Lawrence police confirmed that Valley’s license plate was searched once, on May 14, 2025, while an officer was investigating a May 12 hit-and-run involving a car they said was similar to hers. 

Despite ending its use of Flock, Methuen officials said automated license plate reader technology can provide investigative benefits. They pointed to its role in identifying the suspect in the Brown University shooting and subsequent killing of an MIT professor last December.

The city said it plans to “pursue an alternative system” that meets “Methuen’s standard for privacy, constitutional protections, and local data control.” 

“We believe that officials at all levels of government have a responsibility to keep people safe while maintaining public confidence in how law enforcement uses modern technology,” Beauregard and Moore said.

More than 20 Massachusetts towns and cities have ended, suspended, or reconsidered their use of Flock cameras in recent months amid concerns about data security and reports of police officers misusing the technology to stalk significant others and former partners. 

Earlier this month, Abington, Ayer, and Groton terminated their contracts with Flock Safety.

Other communities are still debating. In Billerica, a resident dressed as the Christmas demon monster Krampus attended the city’s Select Board meeting Monday to “support” the cameras.