The surveillance technology Vienna police use to read license plates is drawing fresh scrutiny after a nearby protest, new Fourth Amendment lawsuits and a state report showing widespread violations of Virginia's data-retention law.
DeFlock Fairfax, an advocacy group pushing Fairfax County to remove its Flock Safety cameras, held a protest Tuesday, Aug. 18, at Ravensworth Baptist Church in Annandale. The group argues the cameras are putting communities "on the road to mass surveillance," according to WUSA9.
The Vienna Police Department uses the same Flock technology. The department says on its official website that the system allows retroactive searches to solve crimes and provides real-time alerts for vehicles on a hotlist, including missing persons and Amber Alerts. Vienna also maintains a public Flock Transparency Portal.
As we reported Aug. 14, DeFlock Fairfax is seeking the removal of Flock readers across the county. Vienna is one of 21 Washington-region jurisdictions whose police can search Alexandria's Flock cameras, alongside Fairfax County, Arlington and the Airports Authority.
State report finds violations
A Virginia State Crime Commission report released in January found that agencies are already breaking the rules set by House Bill 2724, which took effect July 1, 2025. That law limits license plate data retention to 21 days and restricts sharing with outside agencies.
The commission surveyed all 361 Virginia law enforcement agencies. Nearly a third did not respond. Among the 159 that reported using automated license plate readers:
- 21% kept data longer than 21 days, a direct violation unless tied to an active case
- 21 agencies gave continuous access to out-of-state agencies; nine shared data with federal agencies
- 35% had not notified the public of their ALPR use, despite a legal requirement to do so
- 86% reported Flock Safety as their vendor
Crime Commission Chair Delegate Charniele Herring planned to send letters to agencies whose responses showed violations and to those that did not respond, according to WRIC.
Lawsuits and CEO response
The Institute for Justice, an Arlington-based law firm, has filed Fourth Amendment lawsuits against police departments in Norfolk and San Jose, California, over their use of plate-reader data.
Attorney Michael Soifer said officers have used the technology to track former romantic partners. "There's certainly a lot of misuse that's just lurking under the surface and hasn't been found. Potentially in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia," Soifer told WUSA9.
Flock Safety CEO Garrett Langley acknowledged in a CBS News interview the week of Aug. 11 that the company could have acted sooner. The company has since rolled out tools that flag unusual search activity by officers.
Vienna's use of the technology
In March, Vienna Police Detective Brad Reedy used Flock cameras and regional coordination to identify a suspect in a series of overnight burglaries along Maple Avenue, resulting in four burglary charges and a destruction of property charge, according to the department's official X account.
The Vienna Police Department has not publicly commented on the DeFlock protest, the Institute for Justice lawsuits or the Crime Commission's compliance findings. The department employs 41 sworn officers under Chief Dan Janickey.
The Crime Commission's next ALPR compliance report is due Nov. 1. DeFlock Fairfax has a separate public event scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 22, at Ravensworth Baptist Church. Residents can view Vienna's camera data policies at transparency.flocksafety.com/vienna-va-pd.
