Chandler delays vote on Flock Safety contract until July

Flock Safety camera contract: Chandler delays vote

After hours of debate and tense exchanges among council members during a Thursday night meeting, the Chandler City Council delayed a decision on whether to renew its contract with Flock Safety for automated license plate reader cameras until July. FOX 10's Annalisa Pardo has more.

CHANDLER, Ariz. - After hours of debate and tense exchanges among council members, the Chandler City Council has delayed a decision on whether to renew its contract with Flock Safety for automated license plate reader cameras until July.

What we know:

Dozens of concerned citizens packed the council chambers, as members were expected to vote on whether to renew the over $153,000 contract with Flock Safety for their technology.

The cameras send real-time alerts to police when they detect vehicles linked to stolen cars, missing persons, or active warrants.

Chandler police launched the program in March 2024 with 14 Automated License Plate Recognition (ALPR) cameras — and a year later, the city expanded the network to 40.

In the last fiscal year, Chandler police says 7,600 alerts came through the system. Between July 2025 and April 2026, 16 stolen vehicles were recovered, nine missing persons were located and there were a total of 39 arrests.

What they're saying:

Opponents argue the 24–7 cameras create a massive vehicle database that could be misused for surveillance, profiling, and tracking people without their knowledge.

"I can’t go over there and look at it because I can’t go over there and look at it," Chandler Council member OD Harris said. "I have major problems with that because that’s oversight. That is our job to look to make sure—I’m not trying to make a spectacle of anything. I’m just simply trying to protect our privacy."

Chandler Flock Safety camera contract protested

The Chandler City Council is deciding whether to renew a contract worth more than $153,000 with Flock Safety for automated license plate reader cameras. FOX 10's Jacob Luthi reports.

Supporters say the cameras give investigators more detailed, objective vehicle information to help track leads and reduce misidentifications.

"For the last three years, we have had this in the city of Chandler with the data and seen how many times we have helped people with it," Council member Christine Ellis said. "And I'm sitting there saying that I am taking accountability, but if anything happened that is not supposed to happen with this money, we would be the first one to stop it. We would be the first one."

Dig deeper:

A representative from Flock was not available for an interview but did say the city of Chandler owns 100% of its data under the terms of the contract and controls whether to share that data. The system meets CJIS data security standards, does not use facial recognition, and says Flock does not sell its data.