James City Shares Locations of Flock Surveillance Cameras; Williamsburg and York Decline
Differing disclosure policies reflect unsettled questions as advanced license plate recognition technology proliferates nationwide
The adoption of license plate recognition (LPR) technology developed by a company called Flock Safety has grown rapidly among law enforcement across the country. This includes most of Hampton Roads, which has over 600 such cameras spread across the region. Locally, Williamsburg, James City County and York County have all adopted the technology, installing over 75 Flock cameras.
The location of the cameras in local jurisdictions was not among the camera location information recently released by a federal judge in Norfolk as part of an ongoing lawsuit against that city’s use of Flock technology. The judge recently wrote that “a reasonable person could believe that society’s expectations … are being violated by the Norfolk Flock system.”
Amid this backdrop, the Williamsburg Independent asked all three for the locations of their Flock cameras. In response, James City County shared where their twenty cameras are placed. Both Williamsburg and York County declined to provide the location of their Flock cameras.
Flock Safety states that over five thousand law enforcement departments use the technology nationwide, and advocates of the LPR cameras claim that they significantly bolster law enforcement’s ability to investigate and solve crimes. Though the company and users states that there are safeguards to protect personal liberties, push back from both privacy advocates and residents is growing as the technology proliferates.
Locations of Flock cameras shared by James City County:
Strawberry Plains / Midlands
Richmond Rd / Ware
Croaker Rd @ JCC Library
Richmond Rd / Norge Elementary
Centerville Rd / Longhill Rd
John Tyler Hwy / Chickahominy Riverfront Park
Longhill Rd / Charing Crossing
Opportunity Way / Centerville Rd
Monticello Ave / Steeplechase Dr
Freedom Park
Pocahontas Trail / Blow Flats
Monticello Ave / Independence
Ironbound Rd / Old Field
Jamestown Rd @ Ferry
JCC Fire Station 2
Warhill Trail / Baseball Fields
Richmond / Toano Middle School
Olde Towne / Longhill
Airport / Richmond
Longhill / Seasons Trace
Transparency portals & data use
Both James City County and Williamsburg provide online “transparency portals” that summarize some of the data collected by their Flock cameras and how it is used by law enforcement. On these sites, Williamsburg reports 32 Flock cameras and James City County reports 20 Flock cameras. A detailed report by Peter Dujardin in the Virginia-Pilot, indicated that there were 27 Flock cameras in York County at the time.
James City County states on their transparency portal that their police force “utilizes retroactive search to solve crimes after they’ve occurred” and “utilizes real time alerting of hotlist vehicles to capture wanted criminals.”
The dashboard also lists a range of prohibited uses including immigration and traffic enforcement. The county also states that the system does not detect people, conduct facial recognition, or determine gender and race. The county portal indicates that access to the data is reserved for law enforcement purposes only.
A representative of the James City County Police Department wrote in an email response that a request for more information regarding the county’s policies for vetting access to and use of the data would be considered.
James City County Flock Transparency Portal (data as of Saturday, November 29, 2025):
Data retention - 21 days
Number of License Plate Recognition and other cameras - 20
Vehicles detected in last 30 days - 180,189
Vehicle “Hotlist” hits in last 30 days - 816
Hotlist alerted on: Amber Alert (NCMEC Amber), National Crime Information Center/Virginia State Police (NCIC-VSP)
Data searches in last 30 days - 337
Williamsburg Flock Transparency Portal (data as of Saturday, November 29, 2025)
Data retention - 21 days
Number of License Plate Recognition and other cameras - 32
“Unique” vehicles detected in last 30 days - 217,112
Vehicle “Hotlist” hits in last 30 days - 2,396
Hotlist alerted on: Amber Alert (NCMEC Amber), National Crime Information Center/Virginia State Police (NCIC-VSP)
Data searches in last 30 days - 190
Powerful surveillance tools
While there are multiple companies producing LPR technology, Flock Safety describes their camera technology and monitoring software as providing “real-time alerts and rich vehicle details from cameras that install anywhere – no IT, no wiring, no hassle.”
While it’s unclear which system features are used by individual departments, Flock Safety also touts a wide range of AI-powered analysis as “the future of investigations”. The company believes that their AI component drastically expands the camera’s reach far beyond simply identifying license plates, stating their technology “has come to life with a suite of advanced AI-powered tools designed to supercharge investigative efforts.”
For example, the company explains that their “Vehicle Fingerprint” service provides users with information such as whether the vehicle has bike racks or what’s in the back of pick-up trucks. These characteristics are searchable in the database of information maintained by Flock, and can be used to identify and find wanted vehicles during an investigation.
Legislative battles and legal challenges
Though Virginia has enacted some regulations for LPR technology, law enforcement departments in the State are not required to divulge the location of their cameras. This exemption and other legislative issues regarding LPR technology is covered in depth by Dujardin in the Virginia-Pilot. Both law enforcement and privacy advocates say that significant issues were left unresolved by the recent legislation, which likely means further legislation in Richmond regarding the surveillance.
As noted, a significant legal challenge is underway in a federal court in Norfolk which questions their use of Flock cameras, as Dujardin also recently reported in the The Virginia-Pilot. Plaintiffs assert a violation of personal privacy, among other issues. In response to the lawsuit, Federal government stated their support for Norfolk’s right to use the cameras, according to a report by Trevor Metcalfe in the The Virginia-Pilot.
Additional Flock camera research and reporting by Center for Investigative Journalism at WHRO Public Media:
“Who combed Virginia’s Flock surveillance data for immigration enforcement? Search here.” by Kunle Falayi, Center for Investigative Journalism at WHRO, September 24, 2025
“One sleepy Virginia town. Nearly 7 million hits on its surveillance network.” by Kunle Falayi, Center for Investigative Journalism at WHRO, September 17, 2025