Casa Grande, Arizona

They Are Not Just Reading Plates

Flock cameras are sold as license plate readers. Their own patent describes something bigger: video analysis that can identify people, assign traits, and make real-world activity searchable.

Sign the Petition Read the Evidence
A pole-mounted automated license plate reader camera with a solar panel.

What the records show

These cameras with solar panels are a nationwide surveillance network.

The city tells a story. We back up every claim on this site with the city's own records.

CGPD says they cannot search by gender.

That's not true.

22

Searches for a "male" or "female" in four months. Every search was allowed.

See the searches →

CGPD says the cameras are not used for traffic enforcement.

That's not true.

60+

Arrests and citations in a two-day traffic crackdown that used Safe City camera and drone data. The January 2026 log lists searches labeled "Traffic Infraction."

See the reporting →

CGPD says it does not share data with federal agencies.

That's not true.

42

Searches labeled for Border Patrol, ICE, or the US Marshals. Logs list reasons like "target veh USBP" and "ERO FUG OPS."

See the log →

CGPD says it does not use the cameras to monitor First Amendment activity.

That's not true.

Student protest at City Hall listed among the camera system's first notable wins in a January 30, 2026 police email.

Read the email →

CGPD says every search needs a case number or a reason.

That's not true.

12,406

Searches with no real case number. That is 2 out of 3.

See the audit gaps →

CGPD says it only shares data within Arizona.

That's not true.

In its own study session, the city admitted other Arizona agencies with out-of-state sharing agreements can reach beyond Arizona. CGPD cannot stop that.

Watch the admission →

CGPD cites serious cases like homicides. It gives no numbers.

Here are the numbers.

73

Arrests from camera hits in 26 months, for about $1 million a year. About 3 a month. Four were violent crimes.

See the numbers →

CGPD says the cameras do not record audio.

That's true, but misleading.

31

The 31 gunshot-detection devices are microphones. A microphone cannot detect a gunshot without recording the sound around it, and Flock plans to have them listen for human distress.

Read about the microphones →

These are the city's own numbers. Ask the council to act on them.

Sign the Petition See All the Evidence

Documented abuse

60 officers used plate readers to stalk people.

This list keeps growing, and we update it as we can.

deflockcg rebuilt this list from the Institute for Justice database on 9/9/26. Dates, place names, and summaries follow IJ; each card links to the original source IJ cites. IJ calls its count an undercount: most of these officers were caught only after a victim complained.

Source: Institute for Justice: The IJ Database of ALPR Abuse

Most recent cases

  1. September 2026

    New Bedford, Massachusetts

    Sgt. James Marinelli was referred for possible criminal charges after allegedly using the Flock system to track current and former girlfriends.

    Source: newbedfordlight.org
  2. September 2026

    Richmond County, Georgia

    Investigator Sean Morrow was fired and criminally charged for alleged misuse of the Flock system.

    Source: wjbf.com
  3. August 2026

    Colleton County, South Carolina

    Sheriff's Office Lieutenant Kevin Smalls was fired after allegedly running 62 unauthorized searches on the Flock system for his spouse and other people he knew.

    Source: live5news.com
  4. August 2026

    Habersham County, Georgia

    Deputy Jonathan Thomas was fired and criminally charged after an internal audit found that he used the Flock system to track the whereabouts of a person he was in a relationship with. After Thomas' arrest, the Sheriff's office announced it was imposing new restrictions on deputies' use of Flock cameras.

    Source: wsbtv.com
  5. August 2026

    Brevard County, Florida

    Former Brevard Deputy Michael Fultz resigned after an investigation uncovered "egregious misconduct," including looking up his ex-girlfriend's license plate on Flock.

    Source: clickorlando.com
  6. August 2026

    Lufkin, Texas

    Lufkin officer Zachary Klein was arrested and indicted on 100 felony counts related to misuse of the Flock system "for a nongovernmental purpose and with the intent to obtain a benefit or harm or defraud another." Klein allegedly searched for his ex-girlfriend and people she knew more than 10,000 times. The department subsequently disabled all of its Flock cameras.

    Source: lufkindailynews.com
See All 58 Cases With Sources

Casa Grande has no outside audit and no penalty for misuse beyond discipline.

Sign the Petition Contact City Council

Go deeper

Read more about these other items.

Weak contract

Perpetual = forever. Photos can be deleted. The data lives on.

The contract deletes footage after 30 days but lets Flock analyze it, train its AI on it, and keep a worldwide, perpetual license to what it learns.

Read the contract gaps →

Hackable

Camera feeds were left open on the internet.

Researchers documented exposed Flock camera streams and debug pages online. A movement database is only as safe as its weakest login.

See the security record →

Schools

Flock is in the elementary schools.

The agreement never defines "authorized users," never bans facial recognition or AI analytics, and never requires telling parents.

Read the school agreement →

Patent

Flock's own patent describes sorting people by sex, race, clothing, height, and weight.

The patent describes identifying people, assigning attributes like "male, female, race," and searching video for them by location.

Read the patent excerpts →

Courts

"Not yet ruled unconstitutional" is not "constitutional."

Norfolk cameras a judge called too few to track "the whole" of a life. Casa Grande plans about 240 devices for a quarter of Norfolk's population.

Read about the courts →

FAQ

Calm answers to fair questions.

Is this anti-police? Does Flock stop crime? Isn't my phone tracking me anyway? Short answers, with sources.

Read the FAQ →

Read what you need, then add your name.

Sign the Petition Read the FAQ

Take action

Sign the Petition to Protect Casa Grande Residents

Add your name and ask city leaders for public safety with rules, warrants where appropriate, audits, and oversight.

Sign the Petition Contact City Council

Who we are

Safety without mass surveillance.

Deflock Casa Grande is a civic campaign of residents asking city leaders for public safety with clear rules, public oversight, audits, and accountability.

Nonpartisan
Not left, not right, not tied to any party or candidate.
Independent
Not funded by anyone and not part of any other Deflock site.
Pro law enforcement
We support the people who keep Casa Grande safe.
Pro accountability
Powerful tools need rules, audits, and consequences.

What we are asking for

Rules before surveillance becomes normal.

  1. 1

    Hold a public hearing on Flock with public comment and an independent expert who does not work for the department or Flock. The September 8, 2026 study session had neither.

  2. 2

    Require regular third-party independent audits of Flock use, with public reporting of the results.

  3. 3

    Add stronger contract language limiting Flock from selling, sharing, or monetizing machine-learned or derived data from Casa Grande.

  4. 4

    Require warrants or comparable documented legal standards for sensitive Flock searches, similar to cell phone records.

  5. 5

    Disable sharing Casa Grande Flock data with outside agencies unless City Council publicly approves a narrow exception.

  6. 6

    Create clear legal and employment consequences for Casa Grande staff misuse, including stalking, harassment, or personal searches.

  7. 7

    Allow the people of Casa Grande to vote out Flock and all future mass surveillance systems.