It is now illegal in Queen Creek to access the Flock Camera system for searches unrelated to police work, including tracking a former romantic partner.
The Town Council voted unanimously to approve a new set of rules aimed at preventing abuse of the town's 62 automated license plate readers cameras.
The rules put new safeguards in place limiting access to the city's Flock camera network, while also criminalizing misuse with a potential six-month jail sentence and $2,500 fine. Town officials say Queen Creek is the first in Arizona to establish such criminal penalties.
Queen Creek wants to make sure police can still get the benefits of using the tool, while respecting residents' privacy and putting safeguards in place to protect against misuse, Police
Chief Randy Brice said at a Sept. 2 Council meeting.
Town and police department employees using the system will now have to log those uses both electronically and physically with an established case number, Brice said. He argued this will prevent the kind of browsing seen in other abuse cases around the Valley.
The move comes amid a groundswell of opposition to use of automated license plate readers like the ones made by Flock, after officers in multiple Valley departments were either suspected of or found to have misused the technology.
Chandler was the first Valley city to cancel its contract with Flock after an Aug. 7 audit revealed possible misuse by one of the city's police officers. Tempe and Cave Creek also cut ties with the company over concerns the technology could be used to surveil residents.
Most of the speakers at the Queen Creek Town Council meeting wanted town leaders to cancel the contract with Flock. Some went a step further, calling for new town rules to ban automated license plate reader technology.
Nathan Taylorcraft, a Chandler resident and co-director of the group East Valley Unite argued the cameras represent a violation of residents' constitutional rights. The group has been organizing residents Chandler, Tempe, Apache Junction and Queen Creek to call for removing automated license plate readers like Flock's.
Flock camera networks capture bumper stickers, makes, models and provide enough contextual information to create a generalized surveillance network, Taylorcraft said.
Queen Creek's has had its Flock camera network in place since 2022. Brice said the cameras have been instrumental in finding stolen cars, solving hit-and-run cases, and finding missing people.
The town's camera network has assisted in 3,794 incidents between 2025 and 2026, Brice said.
Several council members said the new rules strike a balance between resident concerns about surveillance and the police department's ability to fight crime.
Councilmember Leah Martineau, who also serves as a program coordinator at the Arizona Anti-Trafficking Network, spoke about the technology's usefulness at finding kidnapped teenagers.
Martineau said she was willing to keep listening to resident concerns, but felt it was unwise to throw out the whole over what she called a "knee jerk reaction" to moves by other Valley cities.
Mayor Julia Wheatly said she understood residents' concerns while adding that those concerns helped guide Chief Brice and the Council to put the proper safeguards in place.
Wheatly framed the new rules as a proactive step the town was taking to prevent abuse of the system while making sure police have the tools they need to fight crime.
The benefits of technology pale in comparison to the harms, Taylorcraft said.
"Everyone can see this violates our Fourth Amendment rights. Pretty much everyone except the police department," he said.
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Reporter Harrison Mantas, who covers Mesa, Gilbert, Queen Creek and San Tan Valley, can be reached at harrison.mantas@usatodayco.com. Follow him on X @HarrisonMantas or Instagram@harrisonmantas
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix suburb 'first' to make Flock camera abuse a crime
