City Sends Cease-and-Desist After Flock Safety Reinstalls License Plate Cameras Overview The city of Evanston issued a cease-and-desist order to private surveillance vendor Flock Safety on September 23, 2025, after the company reinstalled 18 stationary license plate reader (LPR) cameras and one flex camera without city permission. Flock had been ordered to shut down and remove cameras on August 26, 2025, following concerns about unauthorized data sharing with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and other out-of-state law enforcement agencies, which violated state law. Background In late 2022 and early 2023, Evanston installed Flock Safety cameras under two separate one-year contracts. A five-year contract extension was approved in January 2024. Though the city paid for the first two years of the extension, it issued a 30-day termination notice to Flock on August 26, 2025, with plans to end the contract on September 26, 2025. Flock is challenging the contract termination, which may lead to litigation. Events Leading to Cease-and-Desist Flock removed 15 of the 18 stationary cameras by September 8, 2025. Between September 21 and 23, Flock reinstalled all cameras at or near their original locations—primarily mounted on public streetlight fixtures or newly installed poles. Some reinstalled cameras differ from the original "Falcon" model; five locations feature a "Standard" model variant without solar panels and likely connected to city power via wiring. The city confirmed no changes to policies since contract termination and stated that the cameras were reinstalled without permission. The city spokesperson said Flock committed to promptly removing the cameras following the cease-and-desist. Data Suggests Cameras May Still Be Active Despite the city's order to deactivate cameras on August 26, Flock’s publicly available "transparency portal" for Evanston shows data inconsistent with complete shutdown: Number of cameras dropped from 19 to 10 after shutdown, then fluctuated, returning to 19 correlating with the reinstallation. The "Vehicles detected in the last 30 days" metric has steadily decreased but not to zero, implying cameras may still be active. City officials indicated no knowledge of reactivation but have not confirmed camera inactivity. Flock has not responded publicly to inquiries regarding camera status post-shutdown. Community Reaction and Additional Information A Reddit post documented a Flock worker installing a camera on a pole outside Evanston city limits but under Evanston's contract. Public comments on the article express concerns about privacy violations, unauthorized data sharing, and potential legal battles. The city has since covered the cameras awaiting removal. Evanston pays $145,500 for the last three years of its contract if upheld. Related Coverage Prior concerns about Flock cameras’ data accessibility by out-of-state police and immigration enforcement. Proposals for limiting how long license plate camera data can be retained. Actions by Evanston Police Department to restrict out-of-state agencies from accessing their ALPR network. --- Author: Alex Harrison, Evanston RoundTable Published: September 24-25, 2025 --- Summary Evanston issued a cease-and-desist to Flock Safety on Sept. 23 after unauthorized reinstallation of license plate cameras that the city had ordered removed on Aug. 26 due to privacy and legal concerns. Evidence from Flock’s own data portal suggests cameras may have remained active despite the shutdown order. The city is pursuing removal and potentially litigation with Flock, who challenge the termination of their contract. Community debate continues on privacy implications of surveillance and data sharing with agencies like ICE and CBP.