When no journal or news story documents your city’s Flock contract, a public records request gets the paper. This page covers what to ask for, drawn from what has worked for records on this site.
What to request
Ask for the contract and its amendments by vendor name: agreements with Flock Group Inc. or Flock Safety, plus any renewal memos. Public-records reporting pried loose exactly this for Ohio State: 3 contracts totaling more than $1 million, plus the internal memo asking leaders to renew. If you want the decision trail, add the agenda item, the minutes, and the vote record for the approval date.
Where the record hides
Contracts approved on consent agendas leave thin trails: the item number and a single line in minutes. Sub-threshold purchases, the ones small enough to skip a vote, live in purchasing records instead: Tewksbury, MA paid from the department’s operating budget, and Rehoboth Beach, DE installed cameras with no commissioner vote at all. Ask for purchase orders to Flock if no council record exists.
What agencies sometimes withhold
Footage and search data raise different exemptions than contracts do; the contract itself is routine public paper in most states. Washington’s records fight went the other way: courts ruled footage public, the state exempted it by statute, and 3 records on this site document the fallout. Your contract request should not touch any of that; it asks for a procurement document.
When the paper arrives
Send it. A contract PDF with a date and an amount upgrades a record instantly, and if your city has no record yet, it creates one with your document as the primary source.
Who holds what
Sending 1 request to the wrong office is the most common reason a request stalls. Split it by custodian. The city clerk holds minutes, agendas, resolutions, and ordinances, which is where a vote record lives. Purchasing or finance holds the signed contract, amendments, purchase orders, and invoices, which is where real dollar figures live. Police records holds the use policy and the audit logs of who searched the system and why. In smaller towns 1 person may wear all 3 hats, but naming the record type still speeds the answer.
Sample request language
To the [City] Clerk:
Under the [state] public records act, I request copies of the following records concerning automated license plate readers supplied by Flock Group Inc., also known as Flock Safety:
1. The current agreement, including all amendments, exhibits, and renewal notices.
2. Any council or board item, resolution, or ordinance authorizing the agreement, with the vote record.
3. Invoices paid to the vendor since January 1, 2024.
4. The department policy governing use of the system.
5. Audit logs of searches run on the system for the last 90 days, including the stated reason for each search and the requesting agency.
I prefer electronic copies. If any portion is withheld, please cite the specific exemption and release the remainder.Timelines and costs
Response windows are set by state law and usually run a few business days for an acknowledgment, with production taking longer. Agencies may charge for staff time or copies; asking for electronic copies removes most of that. If the fee estimate looks high, narrow the date range rather than dropping items, since a 90-day audit log is usually cheap while a 3-year log is not.
What a strong response looks like
The contract states a term, a total, and an exit clause. The council item states a tally. The invoices show what was actually paid, which sometimes differs from the contract cap: Dallas resolution 25-0807 authorizes up to 5,738,414 dollars and names the exact funds behind it, including a state catalytic converter grant and federal Homeland Security money. Audit logs are the least published and the most revealing: the audit that led Columbus to a public hearing counted more than 15,000 searches flagged as possibly immigration-related.
When a request is denied
Ask for the specific exemption in writing, then ask for the non-exempt portions, which agencies often release once pressed. Camera locations are the most commonly withheld item. That refusal has been challenged: the ACLU of Oregon sued Eugene in October 2025 after the city declined to disclose where its 57 cameras sat, and the case is on the record as May v. City of Eugene. If you get documents nobody has published, send them through the submit page and they become part of a record with your source attached.