Law enforcement agencies from across the country — including federal agencies — could search a database of license plates recorded by 20 cameras in Palo Alto for about a two-year period.
That’s according to a statement from Palo Alto Police Chief James Reifschneider in response to public record requests filed by the Daily Post.
Flock cameras take pictures of license plates and enters them into a database, which can piece together the comings and goings of drivers — both suspects and people who are innocent.
Cities such as Mountain View have been pulling the plug on their Flock cameras out of concern that the data might be used by federal immigration officers.
The cameras are connected into a national network operated by Flock.
“In late 2023, unbeknownst to many users including PAPD, Flock added a new ‘Nationwide Lookup’ search feature. Using this feature, an out-of-state local law enforcement or federal agency could perform a broad search of data from Flock’s entire nationwide network of over 6,000 cameras, including the 20 cameras then-deployed in Palo Alto,” Reifschneider said in the written statement.
Reifschneider said Palo Alto police first learned about the “Nationwide Lookup” feature in December. Flock told Palo Alto police that the “Nationwide Lookup” feature was added in “late 2023” and disabled in October 2025.
Reifschneider said he was told by Flock that no PAPD data (i.e., license plates captured by Palo Alto cameras) was actually obtained by any out-of-state agency or federal agency as a result of any “Nationwide Lookup” search.
“Additionally, PAPD found that no searches had been performed by ICE, Customs and Border Patrol, or the Department of Homeland Security, and that no searches appeared to be associated with immigration enforcement or reproductive rights enforcement,” Reifschneider said.
Still, the city is planning to hire an outside auditor to verify that it is no longer possible to conduct nationwide searches using Palo Alto data.
In addition, the police plan to post logs on their website showing queries made by PAPD and other law enforcement agencies authorized to access the Flock system.
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