Fairfax supervisors question police over Flock license plate readers and put off a decision

By Staff Reporter

FAIRFAX, Va. — Fairfax County supervisors spent two hours Tuesday questioning the police department’s license plate reader program and its vendor, Flock Safety, and at least one said he would end the county’s contract if a vote were held today, but the board took no action and asked staff for more answers first.

The Board of Supervisors’ Safety and Security Committee heard a presentation from the Fairfax County Police Department, which told the board it operates 84 Flock Safety cameras and 714 Axon license plate readers mounted on patrol cruisers, and can also draw on 120 privately owned Flock cameras installed by homeowners associations and commercial centers. The board suspended new Flock installations last month while it reviewed the program.

“There are questions that still need answers,” said Franconia District Supervisor Rodney Lusk, who chairs the committee, FFXnow reported.

What police told the board

The department said that since Nov. 1, 2022, the readers have figured in 1,647 cases, leading to 938 arrests on 2,672 charges, the recovery of 573 stolen vehicles and 67 guns, and the location of 60 missing people, according to its presentation.

The department said it owns the data, that the data cannot be sold, that private camera owners cannot see police data, and that Flock “has never had a contract with ICE.” It said it has cut the number of employees who can run searches from 821 to 296 and noted that a 2025 state law, Virginia Code § 2.2-5517, restricts sharing reader data outside Virginia.

“It has become an essential law enforcement tool,” said Maj. Hudson Bull, who runs the department’s Real Time Crime Center, according to FFXnow. Police Chief Kevin Davis said the county is “still seen as a leader” among law enforcement agencies.

Three options, and calls for a fourth

Police laid out three paths: keep the current program while evaluating other vendors; keep it while testing other vendors that can comply with state law and the department’s general order; or move to a closed network with no data sharing outside Fairfax County, while keeping access to privately owned cameras, and evaluate that in a year. The department warned that a closed network “will lessen our ability to solve crimes between jurisdictional boundaries.”

Mason District Supervisor Andres Jimenez asked why ending the use of the readers altogether was not among the options, FFXnow reported. Deputy County Executive Tom Arnold said that would lead to more crime but that the choice was the board’s.

Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn said Flock’s data “are not encrypted” and are not managed on a closed network. “If I were voting today, I would vote to end the contract for ALPR cameras with that vendor,” he said in a statement posted by his office, adding that the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments could lead a regional discussion.

Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity urged caution. “These things are incredibly effective,” he said, according to FFXnow. “We don’t talk about victims enough when we talk about public safety.”

In a statement provided by his office Thursday, Herrity said: “I share the privacy concerns raised about the current County ALPR vendor while also recognizing the valuable role ALPR technology has played in protecting residents and addressing crime in Fairfax County. I can support looking at other options but do not want to rush to remove the cameras.”

Flock founder and chief executive Garrett Langley wrote to Board Chair Jeff McKay that he had “full confidence” the system can keep solving crimes “while remaining in accordance with state law and local policy,” and offered to meet county leaders, FFXnow reported.

What comes next

McKay said supervisors will send questions to county staff, who will answer them for the whole board at once. The Fairfax County School Board voted Sept. 24 to ban the readers from school property, and the Arlington County Board ended its Flock contract last month, FFXnow reported.

The Inquisitor asked the offices of Supervisors Lusk, Alcorn, Jimenez and Herrity, the police department and the ACLU of Virginia when the board might vote, whether Flock data are encrypted, and what a closed network would cost. Herrity’s office responded with the statement above. The ACLU of Virginia said none of its experts were available before deadline. This story will be updated with any other responses.

Update, Oct. 22, 2026: This story has been updated with a statement from Supervisor Pat Herrity.

Photo: The Fairfax County Government Center. Antony-22 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.