Glenview elected officials this month renewed a contract that will keep 25 license plate recognition cameras operating in the village for another five years, even as some communities around the Chicago area and the country have begun abandoning the technology due to privacy concerns.
The contract with Atlanta-based Flock Group, Inc., will cost the village of Glenview $412,500 over the length of the agreement, or $82,500 annually, for the law enforcement technology.
The renewal was approved June 2 as part of the Village Board’s consent agenda. Trustees did not hold any discussion of the matter.
In 2023, trustees approved the village’s initial agreement with Flock, which installed 25 license plate recognition cameras at major intersections around the village.
According to a Village Board memo from Glenview Police Chief Mark Ciesla and Police Commander Joel Detloff, license plate reader technology allows investigators to track vehicles suspected in crimes like carjackings, thefts, burglaries or other offenses where a vehicle description and/or license plate information is known.
“This allows for more efficient and safe practices in the investigation into these kinds of crimes, as police departments will be able to determine whether a suspect vehicle has entered Glenview boundaries, or whether it has exited Glenview,” the memo says.
Sgt. Carly Gaba, community relations officer with the Glenview Police Department, said the license plate readers, which provide police with still images of vehicles and their license plates, not video, have proven helpful in solving crimes that have occurred in Glenview and neighboring jurisdictions. The technology can also identify license plates that have been reported in connection with missing and endangered person searches or wanted individuals, she noted.
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“We are really using them to aid the police department and the safety of the community,” Gaba said. “That’s one thing we really wish people understood a little more—their use for good. If a crime happens to you, you want us to solve that crime. This is another tool we have to get to that result.”
Flock’s license plate reading system came under scrutiny and drew objections last year as concerns about privacy arose from how plate information obtained by its cameras was being used.
An audit by the Illinois Secretary of State’s Office found the company violated state law by sharing motorist data with U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The Illinois law, passed in 2023, specifically restricts the sharing of information from license plate reader technology with other agencies for immigration enforcement purposes or to track someone seeking reproductive healthcare.
Flock was ordered by the Secretary of State’s Office to end access to Illinois camera data by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the company did comply, according to a statement from Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias.
In a 2025 statement, Flock Safety reported that it had removed federal agencies from its national and state data lookup feature.
“Flock does not automatically enroll agencies in data-sharing programs, and sharing relationships can be revoked at any time,” the statement added.
Out-of-state agencies are not accessing data from Glenview’s license plate readers, said Gaba. Department policy also requires officers to report if images are accessed internally by officers and why, she said.
“Nobody is accessing it for no reason,” Gaba said of the data.
Following the Illinois Secretary of State’s audit, some communities, like Evanston and Oak Park, deactivated their Flock cameras and ended their agreements with the company.
Just recently, several jurisdictions in Wisconsin ended their contracts with Flock, and city workers in Dayton, Ohio began covering cameras in that community over privacy and data-sharing concerns, according to news reports.
Many municipalities, like Glenview, however, continue to use the cameras for law enforcement purposes.
In neighboring Niles, there are currently 17 Flock license plate recognition cameras as part of a five-year agreement that extends through 2028, said Village Spokeswoman Margaret Keating.
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The Northbrook and Morton Grove Police Departments also use Flock license plate technology.