Hampton VA Police Department Details License Plate Reader Program
The city's transparency portal outlines Flock Safety camera policies, usage statistics, and data sharing
A Newport News Daily contributor used AI to produce this post from these sources:
Flock Safety - Hampton VA PD Transparency Portal
The Hot List: What Happens When a Wanted Car Passes a Flock Safety Camera?
Lawsuit challenging license plate cameras proceeds; motion to dismiss denied
A recent news report discusses the use of AI-powered license plate reader (LPR) cameras by law enforcement, drawing on information from Flock Safety and a lawsuit challenging the technology. The Hampton VA Police Department (PD) is one agency utilizing this technology, as detailed in their transparency portal.
According to the Hampton VA PD Transparency Portal, which was last updated on Monday, June 9, 2025, the Flock Safety system is designed to capture license plates and vehicles. It explicitly states that the system does not detect facial recognition, people, gender, or race. The acceptable use policy for the collected data mandates its sole use for law enforcement purposes, with the assurance that data is owned by Hampton VA PD and never sold to third parties.
Prohibited uses of the data include immigration enforcement, traffic enforcement, harassment or intimidation, usage based solely on a protected class (such as race, sex, or religion), and personal use. All system access requires a valid reason and is stored indefinitely. The Hotlist policy for Hampton VA PD requires hits to be human-verified prior to action.
In terms of usage statistics for the Hampton VA PD, data retention is 30 days. The department operates 56 LPR and other cameras. In the last 30 days, 587,641 vehicles were detected, resulting in 18,346 hotlist hits and 908 searches. The hotlists alerted on include NCMEC Amber Alert and NCIC - VSP. Hampton VA PD also shares access to the system with a large number of external organizations, including numerous police departments and sheriff's offices across various states.
Flock Safety describes its LPR cameras as an "indispensable tool for modern law enforcement," asserting they are "redefining the entire landscape of public safety." The cameras utilize Vehicle Fingerprint® Technology, which can identify vehicles by characteristics like make, color, and decals, enabling footage to be transformed into actionable evidence even without a visible license plate.
The company's software also includes features like People Detection Alerts, which use AI to identify human presence in restricted zones during specific times, providing "immediate info" to law enforcement and security teams, notably "without recognizing personal characteristics." The FlockOS® platform unifies various data sources, including LPR, video, and audio (such as gunshot detection), to provide "real-time intelligence" and can integrate third-party cameras for a "seamless workflow."
A key feature highlighted by Flock Safety is the "Hot List," which generates automatic alerts for local law enforcement or on-site security when a vehicle flagged as wanted is detected by a camera. This real-time alerting is promoted as a way to help "prevent and solve crimes faster." The Hot List allows users to receive alerts for stolen vehicles, known wanted individuals, and more, integrating with the Federal Bureau Information's National Crime Information Center (NCIC), which is updated daily.
Private customers operating LPRs can choose to incorporate their cameras into the LPR network and receive alerts if they have a signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) agreement with their local law enforcement agency. While law enforcement agencies can access and enter records into the NCIC database, businesses and private communities with their own LPRs do not have this access.
While this technology is deployed in various locations, including Hampton, it faces legal scrutiny in nearby Norfolk, Virginia. A lawsuit challenging the City of Norfolk's use of Flock cameras is moving forward after a judge denied a motion to dismiss. The lawsuit, filed in October 2024 by the Institute for Justice law firm on behalf of residents from Norfolk and Portsmouth, alleges that the Flock cameras violate the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which protects against unreasonable searches.
The plaintiffs argue that these cameras allow for extensive tracking of individuals' movements over time, contending that the government should be required to obtain a warrant for such tracking. Court documents indicate that Chief Judge Davis found that the plaintiffs have "sufficiently alleged a violation of both their subjective and reasonable objective expectations of privacy, and by doing so, plausibly allege that a search has occurred," allowing the suit to proceed. The lawsuit names the City of Norfolk, the Norfolk Police Department, and the NPD Chief as defendants.
Conversely, the technology has its proponents within law enforcement. The Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney, Ramin Fatehi, has publicly supported the use of LPR technology, calling it a "game changer." He stated that he has "seen Norfolk Police solve murders using Flock, solve murders that would’ve gone nowhere without it."
The continued legal process in Norfolk will further examine the balance between the privacy concerns raised by this technology and its perceived benefits in aiding law enforcement investigations.