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.

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A pole-mounted automated license plate reader camera with a solar panel.

Safety without mass surveillance

Who We Are

Deflock Casa Grande is a nonpartisan civic campaign.

We are asking Casa Grande leaders for public safety that supports law enforcement with clear guidelines, public oversight, audits, and accountability.

Not political

Not left-wing, not right-wing, and not affiliated with any political party, candidate, or partisan organization.

Independent

Not funded by anyone, not backed by any outside group, and not associated with other Deflock websites.

Pro law enforcement

We support public safety and the people responsible for protecting Casa Grande.

Pro accountability

Powerful surveillance systems need rules, oversight, audits, and consequences for misuse.

Latest updates

Updates on Flock in Casa Grande

Recent developments show why residents need clear rules, public notice, and enforceable limits before the city expands Flock surveillance.

Featured

Sept 8 study session

The City Council Study Session Is a PR Campaign for Flock. Here Is the Record.

Educate and prepare yourself to defend against the city's study session and PR campaign for Flock.

Tuesday, September 8 at 6:00 PM, City Hall. The Police Chief will present the Flock camera program to City Council. No public comment until the 7:00 PM meeting.

His handout says the city does not share data with federal agencies, cannot search by gender or ethnicity, and does not watch protests. The city's own records show 42 Border Patrol and ICE searches, 84 searches for people, and a monitored student protest. Twelve claims, checked against the record.

Source: City of Casa Grande study session agenda and Safe City handout (posted September 3, 2026)
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New local record

Casa Grande Email Says Cameras Monitored a Student Protest

The January 30, 2026 email lists “Monitoring of a student protest at City Hall” among recent camera-system wins.

The same page says the system assisted in locating missing or endangered individuals and allowed police to “identify involved parties” and “monitor activity” before patrol arrived.

That matters because residents are told these cameras track vehicles, not individuals. The city’s own email describes uses involving people, suspects, and protesters.

The source document says “student protest.” We describe it as peaceful because the email does not allege violence, a crime, or a public-safety threat tied to that protest.

Source: January 30, 2026 Casa Grande police email
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New Flock audio concern

Flock Is Now Recording Conversations

Flock has started early access for what it calls distress monitoring, expanding gunshot-detection microphones toward listening for human distress sounds.

Flock and the city have been adding what they call gunshot detection systems. Now those microphone systems can be upgraded to include "distress."

For a microphone to capture distress, it has to be listening for events. That turns these devices into always-listening stations around the city.

EFF warned about this risk in 2025, when it reported that Flock gunshot-detection microphones were being expanded to listen for human voices and distress sounds.

Source: EFF: Flock's Gunshot Detection Microphones Will Start Listening for Human Voices
Read the EFF Warning Contact City Council Sign the Petition

Flock video camera concern

Flock ALPRs Are Not Just License Plate Readers

Flock's own product launch says existing LPR cameras can become video-enabled through a cloud software update.

Most people think Flock is just a safety system for license plates looking for bad actors. But Flock says its LPR cameras can provide video context too.

That means the system can capture more than a plate. It can collect video of vehicles moving through neighborhoods, roads, and cities, regardless of whether the driver is suspected of a crime.

When video, location, time, and AI search are combined, residents face a bigger risk: movement records stored in a powerful database, exposed to broad authorized-user searches, misuse, warrantless access, and security breaches.

Source: Flock Safety Q2 2025 Law Enforcement Product Launch Summary
Read Flock Product Launch Contact City Council Sign the Petition

School camera concern

Flock Is Now in Your Elementary Schools

Casa Grande approved connecting existing elementary school cameras to the Flock ecosystem through Flock gateways.

On May 4, 2026, City Council voted to approve connecting existing Casa Grande elementary school cameras to the Flock ecosystem through Flock gateways.

Parents deserve clear notice before school cameras connect to a massive AI surveillance network.

The agreements raise serious questions about remote access, undefined authorized users, vague public safety purposes, AI analytics, retention, audits, and parent notification.

Read the School Camera Agreement Contact City Council Sign the Petition

Plain-English explanation

What Are We Really Installing?

Flock cameras are often described as license plate readers. That sounds narrow, routine, and harmless.

But Flock's own patent describes something more powerful: a system that analyzes video, identifies objects, including people, assigns attributes, and turns that information into searchable records.

In plain English, this is not just a camera looking for stolen cars. It is the blueprint for a searchable surveillance network. Casa Grande residents deserve to know exactly what it can collect, who can search it, and what rules stop abuse.

Map of Casa Grande covered with blue Flock camera location markers across major roads and neighborhoods.
Casa Grande's published Flock coverage map shows camera markers spread across major roads and neighborhoods, not just a few isolated locations. Map image courtesy of deflock.org .

Casa Grande coverage

The City Is Building a Surveillance Grid

Full deployment of all technology will take approximately twelve months. After full deployment, the city says there will be:

100

License Plate Reader Cameras

100

Pan Tilt Zoom Cameras

31

Gun Shot Detection Systems

This Is Beyond Plate Reading

License Plate Reader (LPR) Cameras

The city says they identify vehicles associated with investigations, not individuals. But LPRs capture image records, plate reads, timestamps, and locations that can reconstruct where people travel over time.

Pan-Tilt-Zoom (PTZ) Cameras

The city says trained personnel operate them during incidents. In practice, zoomable cameras can follow any person in view, including women and children, not just people suspected of crimes.

Drone as First Responder (DFR)

Marketed as aerial support for faster response, but drones can also let police look into backyards and other private outdoor spaces.

Gunshot Detection System

The city says it detects gunfire and does not record conversations. EFF warns Flock gunshot-detection microphones are being expanded to listen for human voices and distress sounds.

Read the EFF warning

Flock OS Platform

Connects the surveillance network into one platform. Flock has described integrations that can combine camera data with OSINT-style information, including online profiles, posts, addresses, and identity clues.

Taxpayer tradeoff

Cameras do not patrol, de-escalate, interview witnesses, or build trust.

Casa Grande should prove this mass-surveillance spend reduces serious crime before spending roughly $1,000,000 a year on cameras, sensors, drones, and software.

Source: Casa Grande Safe City Initiative Source: Pinal Post: Casa Grande Approves $10 Million Flock System Source: City of Casa Grande FY2026 pay ranges Source: EFF: Flock's Gunshot Detection Microphones Will Start Listening for Human Voices

Better use of tax money

We could have funded 13 more dedicated officers keeping us safe instead of mass surveillance.

A million dollars a year buys people, not just cameras.

Casa Grande approved a roughly 10-year, $10 million Safe City/Flock contract, which averages about $1 million per year before considering reported taxes and later-year annual costs.

Officer staffing math

13 officers

Casa Grande lists Police Officer base pay at $63,714-$87,824, with a $74,762 midpoint. At that midpoint, $1,000,000 / $74,762 = about 13 officer base salaries.

Benefits, equipment, training, and vehicles add real costs, so this is not a full staffing budget. But it shows the tradeoff: the same annual money could fund multiple additional sworn officers instead of locking Casa Grande into a permanent surveillance network.

Documented abuse pattern

Abuse Is Already Happening Across the Country

Flock and other ALPR systems can reveal where a person goes over time. That kind of location history is sensitive for the same reason cell phone location records are sensitive, but ALPR searches are often not regulated with a warrant standard.

The harm is not hypothetical. The Institute for Justice and continued reporting have documented at least 20 reported cases of police using ALPR access for romantic stalking, including searches of spouses, ex-partners, romantic interests, and their friends.

Source: Institute for Justice: Police Have Reportedly Used License Plate Readers to Stalk Romantic Interests at Least 14 Times in Recent Years

Note: deflockcg updated this list from 14 to 20 documented cases on 6/29/26.

20

Known ALPR romantic stalking cases

A searchable movement database creates real personal risk when access is not limited by warrant-like rules, independent audits, and enforceable penalties.

Accountability requirements

Promises Are Not Oversight

Flock's answers usually come from corporate talking points, weak contracts, or internal policy promises residents cannot independently verify.

ACLU: Flock is expanding toward data broker integrations

Timeline of documented abuse - latest first

  1. 2026

    Prairie Grove, Illinois

    Officer William C. Copp, who also served as the police chief of nearby Holiday Hills, was arrested after searching Flock for several former romantic partners and at least one of their new partners. Copp has been fired from his Prairie Grove position and his employment with Holiday Hills is under review.

  2. 2026

    Winnebago County, Illinois

    Former Sheriff's Deputy Tyler Bryan was charged with stalking and official misconduct after allegedly using the department's ALPR system to monitor the locations of an ex-girlfriend and her new partner. The misconduct came to light after the victims filed for an order of protection against Bryan.

  3. 2026

    Niceville, Florida

    Former Niceville Officer Coty Hall pleaded no contest to several charges after using the department's Flock system to track another officer and that officer's spouse. Hall's misconduct was discovered via an internal audit; Hall was fired following his arrest in October 2025.

  4. 2026

    Coffee County, Georgia

    Former Coffee County Sheriff's Deputy Chris Rozar was charged with multiple criminal offenses after allegedly using the department's Flock system to stalk a woman he was romantically interested in. Rozar was fired from the department at the beginning of the investigation.

  5. 2026

    Monroe County, Florida

    Sheriff's Deputy Lamar Roman allegedly used an ALPR system to track and eventually pull over a woman he had met while providing security on a TV set. Roman was arrested and charged with accessing a computer or electronic device without authorization.

  6. 2025

    Bonner Springs, Kansas

    Detective Kyle Rector allegedly used license plate readers to track his estranged wife and two men he suspected were her new romantic partners. He was charged with multiple crimes in March 2026.

  7. 2025

    Braselton, Georgia

    Police Chief Michael Steffman was arrested after allegedly using license plate readers to stalk and harass multiple people, including a former romantic partner. Steffman resigned shortly before his arrest.

  8. 2025

    Menasha, Wisconsin

    Officer Cristian Morales was placed on leave and charged with misconduct in office after his ex-girlfriend filed a complaint alleging that he used a Flock system to track her.

  9. 2025

    Kenosha County, Wisconsin

    Sheriff's Deputy Frank McGrath resigned with severance pay after internal investigators found he used the department's Flock system to keep tabs on another deputy with whom he was romantically involved.

  10. 2025

    Jerome County, Idaho

    Sheriff George Oppedyk used a Flock system to search for his wife's vehicle hundreds of times. Idaho's Attorney General concluded that no crime was committed, but Oppedyk retired in April 2026, two years before his term of office ended.

  11. 2025

    Milwaukee, Wisconsin

    Officer Josue Ayala allegedly used the department's network of Flock ALPRs to track a woman he was dating and her ex-partner nearly 180 times over a two-month period. Ayala resigned in 2026 after being charged with misconduct in public office.

  12. 2025

    Louisville, Kentucky

    Officer Roberto Cedeno was charged with multiple felonies after allegedly using the city's ALPR system to track an ex-partner and her friends hundreds of times over two months.

  13. 2024

    Matteson, Illinois

    According to internal documents obtained by stopflock.org, Officer Jaila Cole-Clark ran hundreds of Flock searches for her former domestic partner and that individual's new partner. Cole-Clark resigned from department in the middle of the investigation.

  14. 2024

    Shelby County, Tennessee

    Deputy Thadius Gordon was relieved of duty after allegedly using an ALPR database to track his ex-wife's location more than 100 times.

  15. 2024

    Orange City, Florida

    Officer Jarmarus Brown allegedly used ALPRs to stalk his girlfriend and her family members more than 100 times over seven months. Brown was arrested and charged in 2025.

  16. 2024

    Riverside County, California

    After being arrested for kidnapping his ex-fiancee, Deputy Alexander Vanny allegedly used the department's Flock system to track one of her friends. In December 2025 he was convicted of multiple charges in a jury trial.

  17. 2023

    Costa Mesa, California

    Officer Robert Josett used a Flock camera system to track his mistress and her other romantic interests. Josett pleaded guilty to multiple criminal charges in April 2026.

  18. 2023

    Sedgwick, Kansas

    Police Chief Lee Nygaard resigned after using Flock cameras to track his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend more than 200 times over several months.

  19. 2023

    Kechi, Kansas

    Kechi Lieutenant Victor Heiar pleaded guilty to computer crime and stalking after using Flock cameras to track his estranged wife.

  20. 2021

    Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania

    Officer Michael McSherry pleaded guilty to stalking charges after using readers to track his estranged wife and other family members.

Casa Grande misuse evidence

The local record already shows why enforceable oversight matters.

These are not the only possible abuse cases. They are merely the ones that have become visible through public records, reporting, litigation, or leaks. The absence of documentation is not evidence that abuse has not occurred.

Traffic enforcement mismatch

Casa Grande links residents to a Flock transparency page saying the system will not be used for traffic enforcement, while local reporting describes a traffic enforcement detail using Safe City data.

Review this evidence

Audit logs residents cannot meaningfully verify

Released logs include redactions, vague reasons, missing case information, and wide-network searches that make public accountability difficult.

Review this evidence

Patent-backed evidence

Flock's Own Patent Says More Than License Plates

The patent describes object and attribute analysis, including examples involving people. Read the highlighted excerpts before signing.

Patent Figure 5A showing Class 2 Neural Network for person and aspect neural networks for color, clothing type, and height or weight.

Page 10 / Figure 5A

Objects and attributes

This diagram shows the system analyzing objects, including people, and assigning attributes that can be stored and searched.

Read larger excerpt

Patent text describing identifying objects including a human being, vehicle, or animal and classifying aspects of the identified object.

Page 16

People and objects in video

The patent describes analyzing video to identify people and objects, not just vehicles.

Read larger excerpt

Patent text listing male, female, race, clothing types, and height and weight as person attribute examples.

Page 25

Person attribute examples

The patent describes classifying people by sex, race, clothing, and physical characteristics.

Read larger excerpt

Read the Evidence Open the Patent PDF

Families and daily life

Why This Matters for Families

The concern is not only what a camera sees today. It is what the system can keep, learn from, and reuse after the original photo or video is gone.

Plain English

Perpetual = forever.

The city is granting Flock a license to certain data created from Casa Grande images forever, even after the contract is over.

Photos can be deleted. Data can live on.

Even if the original image is removed, information learned from it can still be used, licensed, and combined with other records.

Location plus visual data is powerful

When location and visual data can be searched together, it can reveal patterns about where people go, when they go there, and what they look like.

Anonymized does not mean anonymous

In 2026, large language models and open-source intelligence data can make it much easier to connect supposedly anonymized records back to real people. When location, time, vehicle, and visual patterns are combined, data Flock has a license to can still point back to families.

Children cannot consent to this

A child's data can be swept into the system before they are old enough to make decisions about their own privacy, then licensed for future use.

Rules protect ordinary residents

That is why systems like this require strict rules, oversight, audits, and accountability before they become part of everyday life.

Nonpartisan trust

Pro Law Enforcement. Pro Accountability.

Many Casa Grande residents support law enforcement and still believe powerful surveillance tools need clear limits.

This is not a left-wing or right-wing campaign. It is about public safety, transparency, and protecting the public.

Good policing depends on public trust. Public trust requires rules.

What we are asking for

Clear action before surveillance becomes normal.

  1. 1

    Immediately put Flock camera use on the City Council agenda, hold a public study session, and put it on the record.

  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.

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