North Attleboro to pause use of Flock cameras

Our Take

Credit where it's due: WPRI caught a rare moment where public pressure actually slowed the rollout of automated license plate readers instead of rubber-stamping it after the fact. North Attleboro residents showed up to a town council meeting and said the quiet part out loud — that a network of cameras logging every car that passes through town isn't just "crime fighting," it's a permanent record of where you go, who you see, and when.

This is the pattern we see over and over: a police department signs a contract with Flock Safety, cameras go up with little public debate, and only after residents notice the hardware do the hard questions get asked. A pause is a good start, but it shouldn't take citizens storming a council meeting to get basic transparency about data retention, who can access the footage, and whether ICE or other outside agencies get a seat at the table. Those answers should come before the cameras go live, not after.

If you want to know whether your own neighborhood has this gear watching the road, check our camera map, and if you'd rather not wait for a viral meeting to push back, our take-action guide walks you through how to raise these questions with your own town council before the vote, not after the install.