Milford board rejects camera ban, orders review of Flock cameras and drones

Our Take

Credit to WFSB 3 for covering this one, because it's a textbook case of how these fights usually go: residents and some alderman push for an outright ban on Flock's license plate readers, and the board compromises by ordering a 'review' instead of pulling the plug. A review sounds reasonable, but it's also the move local governments make when they want to look responsive without actually giving up the surveillance infrastructure. Reviews can drag on for months while the cameras keep logging every plate that passes.

What's notable here is that drones are now part of the same conversation. Flock has been expanding beyond static plate readers into aerial surveillance, and when a town starts bundling ALPRs and drones into one oversight question, that's a sign the surveillance footprint is growing faster than the public debate can keep up with. Milford isn't unique — this is the same script playing out in city councils across the country, where police departments sell these systems as crime-fighting tools while sidestepping harder questions about data retention, who gets access, and whether any of it actually reduces crime.

If you're in Milford or anywhere else wondering whether your town has already rolled these cameras out, check our map to see what's been deployed near you. And if your local board is about to have its own 'review' debate, our take-action page has resources for showing up and pushing back before the cameras become permanent furniture.