The city of South Portland withdrew a request to fund an additional Flock Safety camera, or stationary automatic license plate reading device, in response to public concerns.

The move came a day before a City Council workshop slated for Tuesday night at which the funding request would have been considered.

The council will instead hold a public workshop by the end of the year discussing the city’s use of this technology, according to a release sent late Monday night. The date has not been set. 

The city already has seven of these cameras, which use artificial intelligence and machine learning to scan and log the license plate, model, color and other identifying information like bumper stickers from every vehicle passing by its field of view.

“Councilors and the public need time to learn more, ask questions and consider how South Portland wants to use and regulate the modern surveillance technology it can control, including the potentially accessible data that technology creates,” said Mayor Elyse Tipton in the media release. 

Flock Safety, an Atlanta-based company that contracts with more than 5,000 law enforcement agencies across the country, has come under fire for who has access to the data it collects. A report found that the company shared data with federal immigration and border authorities. 

There have been no reported instances of misuse of the technology in the city, according to Shara Dee, the city’s spokesperson. 

The cameras are used in Lewiston, Auburn, Falmouth and York, as well as South Portland, according to the ACLU of Maine. 

South Portland’s current contract with Flock Safety extends through June 4, 2027. The City Council will, in the meantime, consider whether to change, expand or discontinue the use of these cameras before the 2028 fiscal year budget process begins.

Not everyone was thrilled with the delay in the process.

“A promised council workshop at an unscheduled point in the future doesn’t change the danger that Flock poses to Mainers’ civil rights and physical safety today,” said Willys DeVoll, a spokesperson for No Flock for South Portland, a resident group organizing around this issue. The group, concerned about data collection and access, is still calling on the city to immediately end its contract with the company and remove the cameras.

“We still don’t have full details about how much public money has been spent on Flock — or even which contract terms are in effect,” he said. “We’re glad that the public will have the opportunity to ask these questions at the City Council meeting tonight, and hope that there will be more transparency regarding the police department’s use of Flock at the upcoming workshop.”

Some clauses in the city’s contract with Flock give residents and councilors pause about the department’s reassurances regarding data security. One section stipulates that Flock may access, use, preserve or disclose footage if it has “a good faith belief” that such use complies with federal processes or prevents emergencies. Another says that these terms and conditions in the contract are subject to change. 

No Flock for South Portland said in a news release Friday night that records indicate that 600 agencies have been granted access to data from South Portland’s Flock cameras, including 70 law enforcement agencies that collaborate with federal immigration enforcement. The group alleges that South Portland has shared Flock network access with groups in 44 states, and that more than a hundred of the 2,000-plus searches since April 2025 were on behalf of other agencies, many of them unnamed.

Police Chief Daniel Ahern said that these cameras have been useful tools for his officers, aiding in investigations of stolen vehicles and missing persons. 

The workshop will be an opportunity for residents, city councilors, municipal staff and the police department to discuss hot-button parts of this issue, like data privacy and sharing, transparency and “the role of surveillance technology in municipal government,” according to the media release.