Haverhill has pulled the plug on its automatic license plate reader cameras, telling Flock Safety to remove the devices even as the city’s own police force credited them with helping solve crimes. The decision, confirmed on Nov. 5, makes Haverhill the latest of roughly two dozen Massachusetts communities to walk away from the surveillance technology, while state lawmakers continue to sit on a bill that could set uniform privacy rules statewide.
The city had contracted with Flock Safety since 2023, and WHAV reports that Haverhill asked the company to remove its cameras after an internal review concluded the technology itself does not provide enough safeguards to protect residents’ privacy. That review reportedly found no evidence the cameras had been misused. Haverhill’s mayor said Flock’s technology had helped police investigations but still did not offer sufficient privacy protections, according to CBS Boston.
Police in Haverhill maintained that the readers assisted officers in identifying suspects, developing investigative leads and solving crimes, per the same WHAV report. Under the system being phased out, the department said it had already tightened protections by limiting historical data retrieval to a maximum of two weeks and ending the sharing of camera data with other communities and outside agencies. The city, according to its own announcement, is now working on an ordinance and internal policy to govern license plate readers going forward.
Residents Pushed for a Seat at the Table
The cancellation followed pressure from Haverhill residents who packed a city council public safety subcommittee meeting to raise concerns about the cameras, CBS Boston reports. Among them was Annie Ryan, who had organized against the technology locally and told the outlet that speaking to the council directly made a difference in getting privacy fears addressed. Ryan and a local grassroots group celebrated the contract’s cancellation as a win, but she isn’t done: she is now calling for an ordinance that would require a council vote before the city or its police department adopts any new surveillance technology…