The cameras MPD installed to track criminal suspects quietly turned inward this summer, trained on the department’s own officers. The DC Police Union disclosed that Internal Affairs used Flock Safety automated license plate reader data to monitor sworn officers under misconduct investigation without their knowledge, a practice the union discovered in July 2026.
That revelation lands at a precarious moment for Flock Safety. According to advocacy group Secure Justice, more than 90 localities terminated Flock contracts in August 2026 alone, and MPD’s situation illustrates precisely the surveillance scope-creep driving those cancellations nationwide.
Under MPD’s own license-plate-reader general order, queries require a “reasonable articulable suspicion” of criminal conduct. They must also serve a legitimate law-enforcement purpose. The union argues that an administrative misconduct investigation meets neither standard, and that using Flock data for non-criminal purposes also violates the company’s user agreement.
MPD rejected the grievance, declined to investigate the managers involved, and stated that the use of LPR in the misconduct investigation “was appropriate,” moving the dispute to arbitration. The department maintains it updated its LPR policy in April 2026 and conducts routine audits of Flock usage.
On August 25, 2026, MPD denied the grievance. That same day, the department issued a teletype requiring most officers to route Flock queries through the Real Time Crime Center, while Internal Affairs retained direct access throughout.
Jake Laperruque of the Center for Democracy and Technology told the Washington Post on September 12, 2026 that he had never seen a rank-and-file police union vocally call for rolling back police surveillance powers. He described the DC Police Union’s stance as evidence of “strong enthusiasm against Flock” even from within law enforcement.
On September 14, 2026, D.C. Councilmember Brooke Pinto, chair of the Judiciary and Public Safety Committee, sent MPD Interim Chief Jeffery Carroll a letter with 10 detailed questions about Flock data access, audit results, and whether the department can justify the technology’s continued use.
“Security and privacy are fundamental rights for our residents. We must always balance the dual important duties of our government to protect the public’s safety and to safeguard our civil liberties. The public deserves transparency and must understand how this technology is being used in our communities,” Pinto said, according to WJLA newsletter reporting.
As of early 2026, MPD’s network included 98 fixed and 68 mobile license-plate readers, including 71 Flock cameras. The department has already restricted thousands of outside officers from directly querying its database, requiring external agencies to submit requests instead.
Secure Justice tracked 214 total municipal contract terminations since 2021, with August’s pace representing a four-fold increase over July. Austin, Cambridge, Evanston, and Eugene have already ended their contracts, and on August 27, 2026, Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered state agencies to stop using state funds for Flock cameras entirely.
Arbitration and the D.C. Council’s oversight push now represent twin pressure points on MPD. If arbitration finds the internal use improper, or if Pinto’s committee advances ALPR legislation, D.C. could set a national precedent. The surveillance tools built to watch everyone, it turns out, now include the people running them.
