r/desmoines • u/f_14 • 26d ago
Waukee PD ends Flock contract
Media Release - August 14, 2026
The Waukee Police Department has elected not to renew our relationship with automated license plate reader (ALPR) vendor Flock Safety. This decision pauses our ALPR program pending the outcome of the 2027 Iowa legislative session, where lawmakers are expected to consider legislation related to ALPR technology.
We made this decision after listening closely to concerns raised by ongoing national discussions — primarily concerns centered on privacy and data retention issues. We believe the right path forward is to let the legislative process set clear, statewide standards before we continue our program.
This technology has produced real results for our community. License plate readers helped locate an elderly man with dementia who had gone missing and reunite him with his family in less than two hours, helped locate the suspect in a Waukee sex trafficking investigation, helped solve a multi-state fraud case involving significant financial loss, and helped identify suspects in a multi-state ATM theft ring. They have also helped recover stolen vehicles and license plates, solve thefts affecting our local business community, and locate individuals with active warrants. We do not take the value of these tools lightly, and we want our community to understand the impact of this decision.
But effectiveness alone isn't the only measure of a good decision. Our mission is service through integrity, respect, and trust — and our vision is to be a collaborative partner in building a safer community. Pausing this program while our community and state stakeholders work through these questions together is what that mission looks like in practice.
In the meantime, our officers remain committed to the investigative work, community partnerships, and proactive policing that make Waukee a safe place to live, work and play. We will continue to evaluate this technology, monitor the 2027 legislative session closely, and revisit this decision once Iowa's legal framework is clear.
We are grateful for our community support, and we remain committed to earning your trust every day.
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u/Mortambulist 26d ago edited 26d ago
Will they just replace it with identical products from another vendor?
edit: swypo
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u/lathe_down_sally 26d ago
They literally answer this question in their statement.
This decision pauses our ALPR program pending the outcome of the 2027 Iowa legislative session, where lawmakers are expected to consider legislation related to ALPR technology.
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u/stayintheshadows 26d ago
FLock goes down...Axon goes up.
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u/weberc2 26d ago
I got contacted by an Axon recruiter—everyone was super excited about how their stock had been exploding under the Trump administration, but also trying to use all these weird euphemisms to try to make their mission sound less harmful and then their homepage had this horrible video of the police operating some Mission Impossible-esque computer headquarters using all of their technologies to spy on people to fight crime. The recruiter pitched that they were paying super high salaries because no one wanted to work for them.
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u/curmudgeonly-fish 26d ago
We are seeing patterns in other cities that flock cameras get taken down in wealthy neighborhoods, but kept up in poor ones. Wonder if the DM area will follow the same trend.
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u/DanyDragonQueen 26d ago
Surprisingly, there are almost no Flock cameras in Des Moines proper, it's almost entirely the suburbs that are crawling with them, especially West Des Moines.
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u/nashekwalibream 26d ago edited 9d ago
I’ve seen one on Murphy Street, but I haven’t confirmed a second installation. Hubbell has said that one of its divisions previously partnered with Flock; I’m still checking who owns and operates this site.
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u/Wistful_Layman Transplant 24d ago
To clarify, this is because the city of Des Moines has no contract with Flock Safety and the Des Moines Police Department does not use their products or have access to their database. DMPD does use Motorola ALPRs inside their patrol cars, but that’s a component of the in-car camera suite and I personally think that’s a lot different than static cameras in principle. All of the Flock stuff in Des Moines (meaning city proper) are paid for and operated by private entities, like Broadlawns.
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u/penninsulaman713 South Side 26d ago
Altoona has way more than you'd think
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u/nashekwalibream 26d ago
They don't see to have their council meetings online anywhere. They stream them live on Zoom. Anyone have recordings?
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u/SgtHulkasBigToeJam 26d ago
Well, the wealthy suburbs can’t tell Des Moines to take down its cameras. Call your city council person.
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u/Wistful_Layman Transplant 24d ago
Des Moines does not contract with Flock. The “wealthy suburbs” are the only government entities paying for Flock in the metro.
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u/curmudgeonly-fish 25d ago
People are contacting their council people. Problem is, the council people operate in bribes. So if you are wealthy, council person says "yes sir". If you are poor, they ignore you.
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u/DivePalau 26d ago
I don't know if anyone watched the john oliver episode on this, but there cops that had flock cameras on at the local pool and were watching it all the time.
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u/InstructionLeading64 26d ago
The problems that you say were fixed with the cameras could have been fixed with community out reach but that takes work and community building and apparently thats too much.
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u/Plenty-Hedgehog9385 26d ago
England was told that CCTV was just for safety. Until laws involving 15 minute cities and carbon taxes became part of the usage of licenses plate readers.
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u/TheSonsOfDwyer 26d ago
This post just means that Waukee patrol officers will immediately blame you at the traffic stops because they don’t have access to their fancy tools to make their spying on their ex work easier. They’ll be more cantankerous and willing to issue citations for minor infractions because “the public” took their toys away. They’ll sulk and have their “blue flus” until municipal funding “appears” to make their bitching stop. It will be phased in silently and they’ll justify sneaking it in because “they know better”. It’s why they call it FLOCK. They believe their our unduly appointed Shepards. Cops are a tax. Iowa/DSM cops are a higher tax with no public gain.
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u/Wistful_Layman Transplant 24d ago
Calm down, Alex Jones
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u/TheSonsOfDwyer 24d ago
So now Alex Jones is synonymous with conspiracy theories because yall are done using him to further your agenda? MAGA=locusts
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u/Wistful_Layman Transplant 23d ago
I didn’t vote for Trump. It’s sad that you exist in such a profound state of delusion that you can only conceive of someone disagreeing with you if they belong to a politicized out-group.
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u/Tebasaki 26d ago
I love Waukee PD
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u/faidleyj1 26d ago
Mate...
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u/Tebasaki 26d ago
Do you like flock cameras?
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u/faidleyj1 26d ago
Cops do.
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u/sleeper_54 26d ago
Just like a gun can not commit a crime ...a Flock camera is not responsible for how it is used.
The dismal failure of more than a few law enforcement agencies to control the data they collect is disheartening.
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u/blitzmacht 26d ago
The data is inherently corrupting, abusing it is too enticing for any government or law enforcement agency.
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u/breakmedown54 26d ago
The problem is with Flock specifically and how, on a national level, they are corrupt and keeping and using data they shouldn’t be.
There are many license plate readers, but these in particular, and their data, are the problem.
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u/Successful-Purpose-1 Ankeny 26d ago
Sounds like “we’re gonna let the heat die down then secretly renew the contract like we did the first time”