09/06/2026
While Lowell was busy voting in the Primary, the City Council quietly took up a motion on Flock cameras. Surveillance moves fastest when nobody’s watching, and that’s exactly the point.
Flock-style ALPR cameras aren’t just reading license plates. They’re logging your car’s make and model, your bumper stickers, and identifying details about who’s riding with you, all with little to no oversight. That data has already been used to run searches on ICE’s behalf and to help police stalk their own partners. This isn’t hypothetical. It’s happening in Lowell right now.
At the meeting, one resident spoke against the cameras. The other speaker was the Chief of Police, who lives in Dracut and raved about them. Then the Mayor moved the whole conversation behind closed doors into executive session.
Dunwoody, GA. San Jose, CA. Dane County, WI. Attleboro, MA. All of them have paused or cancelled their Flock contracts, mostly by City Council vote. Lowell can do the same, but only if councilors hear from residents first.
Write to your City Councilor today. Tell them Lowell doesn’t want ALPR cameras, and that existing ones need to come out and contracts need to be cancelled. https://forms.gle/uGhwF8AXZKC8ggsq6
Standing with Lowell Alliance, RISE Coalition, Lowell Together, and Solidarity Lowell on this one.
