Residents urge Norwalk committee to pause Flock license-plate readers; police cite crime drops and audits

Residents and community organizers pressed the Norwalk Public Safety and General Government Committee on April 23 to pause the city’s use of Flock license-plate reader (LPR) cameras until contractual protections for data access, retention and third-party sharing are clarified.

At public comment, Elana Suniga, a Norwalk resident, told the committee she examined a work order for the city’s LPR deployment and found that it “does not clearly define how the data is handled, who has access to it, whether it can be shared or how we ensure it's actually deleted after 30 days.” She urged council members to review the agreement and add enforceable safeguards if they are missing.

The committee then heard from Chief Walsh of the Norwalk Police Department, who described the department’s deployment of 11 Flock cameras since 2023 and said the system was intended primarily to combat stolen vehicles. “Since the implementation of the Flock cameras, we have seen practically a 45% decrease in stolen cars in the city,” Chief Walsh said, and he reported a 24% drop in property crime in the most recent quarter compared with the state average.

Walsh listed specific cases where LPR hits led to arrests or recovery of firearms, including a 2025 hit that identified a vehicle believed to be involved in an earlier shooting. He said Norwalk began restricting out-of-state sharing in August 2025 and has assigned a lieutenant to audit LPR searches to ensure officers include a case number and legitimate investigative basis.

Public commenters and several council members pressed the department on where plate data is stored and who can access it. “We only get 30 days of information when we run searches,” Chief Walsh said, explaining the department’s retention practice; he also said the data is maintained on Flock’s cloud and that the department has a five-page policy governing use. He told the committee the state bill under consideration will reduce retention to 21 days, require audits and bind vendors contractually to the new standards.

Community speakers raised security and civil‑liberties concerns. Angelo Bochanis, who said he works with immigrant-rights organizations, said immigrant families report fear that local data could be used by federal authorities and urged Norwalk to cut contracts with Flock. A speaker identifying himself as Garrett, a technology and privacy professional, urged the committee to “hit the pause button indefinitely,” saying LPR systems have produced false hits and present unacceptable privacy risks. Rob Pratt referenced public records from Windsor showing high numbers of searches from out-of-state agencies and asked whether Norwalk tracks such searches.

Chief Walsh said there is no evidence of a Flock breach in Norwalk and repeated the department’s internal controls: retention limits, auditing, and restrictions on sharing to agencies with explicit dashboard agreements. He also explained that, for evidentiary or investigative needs, a federal agency seeking cloud data would serve legal process on Flock as the cloud custodian.

Council members asked for more detail on contract language and security statistics. Council Member Colin Host asked whether the department’s policies are codified and enforceable in vendor contracts; Chief Walsh said the new state legislation “attaches the requirements to all LPR contracts” and will place some compliance burdens on suppliers.

The meeting closed after committee comments and a motion to adjourn. The transcript does not include a roll‑call vote on the adjournment motion.

Why this matters: License-plate readers can aid investigations and, the police say, reduce vehicle thefts. But community members raised unanswered questions about vendor contracts, cloud storage and who beyond local law enforcement may be able to query or receive access to LPR data. The committee said it will continue the discussion and align local practice with forthcoming state law.