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CHANDLER, Ariz. - The Chandler City Council is weighing whether to renew its over $153,000 contract with Flock Safety for automated license plate reader cameras.
What we know:
Residents packed council chambers on May 21, briefly delaying the meeting after refusing to remove protest signs. Mayor Kevin Hartke ultimately chose to continue the meeting despite the disruption.
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.
What they're saying:
Supporters say the cameras give investigators more detailed, objective vehicle information to help track leads and reduce misidentifications – while opponents argue the 24/7 cameras create a massive vehicle database that could be misused for surveillance, profiling, and tracking people without their knowledge.
Critics say there will be no oversight once information reaches the AWS cloud, where Flock Safety stores its data. Chandler City Council member OD Harris said the council has no oversight over data outside its jurisdiction.
"I can’t go over there and look at it because I can’t go over there and look at it," 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."
During the last fiscal year, the Chandler Police Department said 7,600 alerts came through the system. Between July 2025 and April 2026, 16 stolen vehicles were recovered, nine missing persons were located, and a total of 39 arrests were made.
Councilmember Christine Ellis shared a story about how the cameras tracked down a drunk driver who hit and killed someone she knew.
"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," 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:
Flock says around 60 law enforcement agencies across Arizona use its services.
A representative from Flock was not available for an interview but said the city of Chandler owns 100% of its data under the contract terms and controls whether to share it.
The representative added that the system meets Criminal Justice Information Services Security Policy standards, does not use facial recognition, and does not sell data.