Police Use of Surveillance Cameras on Their Own Officers Sparks Backlash

The Washington, D.C. police union has clashed with department management after discovering that internal affairs investigators used Flock automated license plate recognition (ALPR) cameras to track the movements of sworn officers under investigation, without their knowledge. Privacy advocates say there are no known prior cases of a police department using this technology to monitor its own staff.

The department has defended the practice as appropriate, but the union argues there are no adequate controls or transparency around such a powerful surveillance system. A formal complaint demanding the practice stop was denied, and the dispute is now headed to arbitration. Notably, the department issued new restrictions on internal access to the system the same day the complaint was rejected, though it has not explained the timing.

This dispute comes as Flock faces growing scrutiny across the United States, with multiple reported cases of officers misusing the cameras to track individuals without proper authorisation. Several cities have ended their contracts with Flock in recent months, and analysis from a digital rights group found that nearly half of all terminated contracts since 2021 occurred in just the last six weeks, reflecting mounting public and governmental concern over surveillance oversight.