Flock license plate reader cameras coming to West Point
Published 11:32 am Thursday, October 15, 2026
A nationwide crime-fighting tool that has drawn as much opposition as support is coming to West Point.
The West Point City Council last week approved the installation of two Flock Safety Automated License Plate Reader cameras along US 275 in the city limits.
Police Chief John Adams included the $7,000 cost for two cameras in this year’s budget,
but the Nebraska Department of Roads required the city to approve them before they can be used.
“It’s another tool I’d like to try,” Adams told the council during its October meeting last Tuesday, Oct. 6. He added that Flock wanted four cameras in West Point, but he only budgeted for two.
Flock’s cameras automatically scan every license plate that passes them and store the information in a searchable database. The result is a network that law enforcement in all 50 states has access to. The Flock system can alert authorities in one state if a car suspected to have been involved in a crime is detected in another state.
“Contrary to what you’ve been hearing, they are not an evil thing,” Adams said of the cameras. “They are a tool for law enforcement to use for investigative purposes.”
He said the cameras are not there to catch speeders or those driving while intoxicated. They are intended to notify law enforcement when they spot vehicles that have been involved in major crimes such as burglaries, abductions, and drug trafficking.
He said there have been incidents in West Point that showed the value of the Flock cameras. One involved a minor who took his parents’ car and headed to Minnesota. In that case, the license number of the car was called into the State Patrol, which entered it into the Flock system. Cameras in Sioux City captured the plate number and alerted authorities.
“If our cameras can spot a vehicle that law enforcement in another town is looking for, then we are able to help them,” Adams said.
Adams also addressed stories of Flock’s data being misused by police officers who have asked the system to search for vehicles for personal reasons.
“I trust our officers not to misuse it,” he said, adding that the department already has policies in place that govern when officers can run a criminal history, and those can be adapted for the Flock system.
Adams said Flock has also implemented a set of rules that officers must abide by. Flock can track who inputted a license plate number and why it was done, and those inputting the data must be able to justify why they did so.
Adams said he wants to try the cameras for one year. After that, they will be evaluated to see if they are worth keeping. The current cost is $7,000 per year for the two cameras.
The council voted 5-0 to approve the Flock cameras for one year.
According to the material made available at the meeting, one camera will be placed near the intersection of Highway 32 and US 275 (south of Dollar General), and the other will be placed on the east side of US 275, one half a block north of the Highway 32 and US 275 intersection (Grove & Lincoln Street intersection).
