A law to regulate Flock Safety cameras and similar license plate readers could be coming to Nevada amid privacy concerns and reports of the technology’s misuse nationally.
State lawmakers noted that the surveillance technology, commonly used by law enforcement agencies including the Metropolitan Police Department to help investigate crimes, is not regulated in Nevada.
The Nevada Legislature’s Joint Interim Standing Committee on the Judiciary is hoping to at least have a debate about possible safeguards during the 2027 session. Through a unanimous committee vote Tuesday, the committee instructed legal staff to draft legislation.
If the bill is eventually signed into law, agencies that use the technology would be required to adopt written policies and train their users on the cameras’ legal use and data protection. The proposed law would also mandate annual reports about their use, policies and audits.
Debate expected in 2027
“There will be much discussion on this, and it seemed appropriate to at least have a vehicle to hash out those details,” said state Sen. Melanie Scheible, D-Clark County, the committee’s chair. “And if we’re able to come to some kind of conclusion about how we should be regulating the use of these cameras, then we can do that with this particular bill.”
Assemblymember Alexis Hansen, a Northern Nevada Republican, agreed: “Guardrails are important.”
At least 17 other states already regulate automated license plate readers, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Attorney General Aaron Ford, who’s vying to be governor by the time of the Legislative Session, said he would support such a measure because Flock cameras raise concerns about privacy.
“Nevada needs stringent rules to protect against the abuse of Flock cameras, and as Governor I will work with lawmakers to pass into law these essential guardrails,” the Democrat said through his campaign. “Until Nevadans have these protections, I do not support the use of Flock cameras.”
The campaign of incumbent Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo, who is running for reelection, and his office did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the technology.
How do Flock cameras work?
License plate readers capture images or video of vehicles passing through public property, documenting their plate numbers, descriptors and location, according to the Legislative Analysis and Public Policy Association.
Public defenders in Clark and Washoe counties proposed the Nevada bill.
Flock Safety says its technology has built-in privacy controls and transparency tools, and that its cameras don’t identify people in the vehicles, nor do they track them.
Its users also can’t access live feeds, searches are logged and images auto-delete after a week, according to the company, which didn’t immediately comment on the Nevada proposal. “Flock does not replace investigators or human judgment.”
U.S. media has documented arrests of police officers allegedly caught misusing the technology.
Just Wednesday, CNN reported that a Kentucky officer was arrested for allegedly using Flock Safety’s system to track an ex-girlfriend hundreds of times. The suspect was flagged by a new Flock auditing tool implemented after a string of similar incidents, added the outlet, citing authorities.
Southern Nevada agencies that use them
Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill recently told the Review-Journal that Metro has installed about 180 Flock cameras across the jurisdiction, as well as 130 Motorola systems. He defended their use, adding that it helps police fight crime.
“We also limit our Flock usage to law enforcement purposes, and we also only share our Flock data with legitimate law enforcement organizations for the purpose of conducting those criminal investigations,” he said.
An online Flock Safety portal about its network’s use by Metro said that it has access to 211 of its cameras. Over the last month, it’s documented more than 2.2 million vehicles. At least 3,877 searches had been conducted during the same time period.
Shortly after it was disclosed that the Clark County School District Police Department uses the Flock network, the district on Wednesday announced that it was pausing the practice until it undergoes a review.
“The Clark County School District… understands the imperative to balance the need for privacy with the need to respond quickly to serious crimes,” said a district official in a statement, adding: “CCSD will be fully transparent with the community about the use of Flock System cameras.”
Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com.
