James City has cut retention of automated license plate recognition (ALPR) data collected by Flock surveillance cameras in the county from 21 to 14 days. The change follows Flock’s recent decision to lower its own recommended retention period to seven days, down from 30. As of this report, other jurisdictions in the area that also use Flock cameras in the area, including Williamsburg, York County, William & Mary, and Newport News, have maintained a 21-day data retention policy, which is the maximum allowed under Virginia law.
A James City County spokesperson wrote in response to an email that the county’s move came out of a broader policy review, telling the Williamsburg Independent that officials weighed Flock’s new guidance against the county’s own investigative needs. James City County previously provided the locations of their Flock cameras, as reported by the Williamsburg Independent, though other local jurisdiction declined to do so.
The surveillance company justified the shorter retention period by stating that 90% of searches without a full license plate are completed within a week. While Flock is recommending a smaller window for data storage, they note new ways they’ve developed for investigators to preserve data in the system for active cases.
Flock watch
Williamsburg, James City County, York County, and William & Mary use Flock Safety’s AI-enabled cameras to capture license plates and vehicle characteristics. The data can then be checked against law-enforcement watchlists and searched for investigations. Transparency pages enabled by jurisdictions but maintained by Flock detail camera use, vehicle detections, alerts, data access and restrictions, including national and statewide hotlists. Below are recent statistics reported by local jurisdictions:
James City County reporting on Thursday, Aug 27 2026:
Cameras: 20
Vehicles scanned (30 days): 251,786
Searches conducted (30 days): 221
Hotlist hits (30 days): 1,125
Data retention: 14 days
Williamsburg reporting on Wednesday, Aug 26 2026
Cameras: 32
Vehicles scanned (30 days): 261,864
Searches conducted (30 days): 195
Hotlist hits (30 days): 3,209
Data retention: 21 days
York County reporting as of Wednesday, Aug 26 2026
Cameras: 42
Vehicles scanned (30 days): 546,333
Searches conducted (30 days): 818
Hotlist hits (30 days): 4,135
Data retention: 21 days (per county; not yet reflected on transparency page)
William & Mary reporting on Wed Aug 26 2026:
Cameras: Not shown
Vehicles scanned (30 days): 35,580
Searches conducted (30 days): 2
Hotlist hits (30 days): 17
Data retention: 21 days
Newport News reporting Wed Aug 26 2026:
Cameras: 153
Vehicles scanned (30 days): 718,001
Searches conducted (30 days): 1,122
Hotlist hits (30 days): 11,258
Data retention: 21 days
(The City of Hampton did not respond to a request for data by the time of this writing).
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