A Mass. City Councilor Voted for Flock Cameras, Then Found Out She Was Searched 359 Times

Flock talk is all the rage in Massachusetts these days, with communities throughout the Commonwealth, including New Bedford and the surrounding towns, questioning, suspending, and even banning the technology.

The Flock license-plate reader cameras spook some folks, along with the data they collect and what happens to that data once someone has been flocked.

New Bedford's Flock program is currently suspended and under review, and officers could be disciplined for allegedly misusing the system.

Methuen Councilor Discovers 359 Plate Searches

Those concerns have reached new levels in Methuen, where City Councilor Patricia Valley, who voted to install the Flock cameras in her community, has discovered that she was apparently under surveillance by Flock readers in another community.

"When I voted to install Flock cameras in Methuen, I did so in good faith," Valley wrote in a Facebook post. "I believed they could be a useful tool for our police officers, and I trusted that a technology this powerful would be used responsibly, transparently, and with proper safeguards."

But Valley said a "personal experience" involving the Lawrence Police Department now has her demanding the removal of all Flock cameras in Methuen.

"Through the public-records transparency website Have I Been Flocked, I discovered records indicating that my license plate had been searched through the Flock system 359 times over a two-year period," Valley wrote.

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Valley said Lawrence Police told her her license plate had been connected to an investigation involving a crash in May 2025. She said she was never contacted about the accident and "to my knowledge, had absolutely nothing to do with the incident."

She was told that records cannot be released because the investigation is still active.

How to Check If Your License Plate Has Been Tracked

Anyone interested in finding out whether their license plate has been searched using the Flock system can check by entering their plate number at Have I Been Flocked.com.