Newport News Police Department Chief Steve Drew has publicly credited Flock cameras with helping investigate kidnappings and shootings.
But on August 28, the Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism at WHRO reported that Newport News said it does not track how Flock data is used in criminal cases.
Both statements deserve attention. Cameras can help individual investigations while the city lacks a consistent measure showing their overall results. (whro.org)
Audit Newport News reviewed the purchasing records, earlier reporting and the department’s current license-plate-reader policy. The documents show a growing investment—and specific oversight requirements that residents should be able to evaluate.
The spending began well before the recent debate.
In 2021, Newport News contracted for 30 Flock Falcon license-plate readers. The first-year price was $82,500, including installation, followed by $75,000 in annual recurring charges. The agreement included a 30-day trial with an option to cancel at no cost.
The original sole-source justification emphasized integration with the police department’s existing Evidence.com system and neighboring agencies already using Flock. It identified Captain Jason Bollhorst as the department’s contact and Sgt. Frank Crabtree as the Real Time Crime Center supervisor who reviewed competing systems.
That paperwork explains the department’s purchasing rationale: compatibility and access to a shared investigative network.
In March 2023, the city added 44 more Falcon cameras. The amendment carried $121,000 in first-year costs, including installation, and $110,000 in annual recurring charges for those additional cameras.
Then-City Manager Cynthia D. Rohlf signed the amendment for Newport News. Mark Smith, Flock’s general counsel, signed for the company.
Together, those agreements covered 74 license-plate readers. That is a documented contract quantity, not a verified count of cameras operating today.
The relationship then expanded into a different kind of surveillance.
An October 24, 2024 purchase order covered 50 Flock Condor video cameras, with $178,125 in first-year costs. It identifies Assistant Chief Brandon Creswell as the city’s point of contact and Emily E. Barnett as the contract officer.
The supporting order form lists a $478,125 total over 36 months.
Condor cameras provide live video. They should be distinguished from the Falcon cameras that read license plates. Residents deserve an inventory that separates the products, their capabilities and their costs.
By December 2025, the city’s relationship with Flock also included a separate $2.64 million Drone as First Responder agreement. Its scheduled annual charges were $680,000, $980,000 and $980,000. That agreement represents another substantial expansion beyond roadside cameras.
What does Newport News require when officers search the license-plate system?
NNPD’s April 2026 operating procedure says officers must document a reason that connects their search to an investigation. It directs them to use an incident or call-for-service number, with alternative documentation for urgent circumstances.
The policy assigns the Real-Time Crime Center supervisor, or a designee, responsibility for a “documented monthly system audit” checking whether searches comply with policy and users are authorized.
It also requires unauthorized access and searches to be documented and reported through the chain of command. Failure to follow search-documentation rules can lead to remedial training or loss of access. (public.powerdms.com)
Those are concrete commitments. The oversight question is whether the resulting audits demonstrate that the rules are being followed—and what happens when they are not.
Virginia law also requires internal auditing at least every 30 days and public annual reporting on camera totals, searches, outside-agency access, identified unauthorized use and other measures.
The law generally sets 21 days for ordinary system data and two years for audit-trail data, with preservation exceptions for ongoing investigations and proceedings. Raw system and audit-trail data are exempt from Virginia FOIA; that protection exists alongside the requirement for public policies and annual reports. (law.lis.virginia.gov)
The cameras’ benefits deserve a fair hearing, too.
Drew told WHRO in January that crime data and calls for service guide camera placement, and that Flock information has provided starting points in serious investigations. Those statements explain the department’s position. (whro.org)
NNPD’s 2025 annual report says homicides fell 22 percent and nonfatal shootings fell 21 percent from the previous year. Drew’s message explicitly credits multiple factors and the work of officers and detectives. Those department-wide improvements do not, by themselves, isolate Flock’s contribution.
The August WHRO report adds an important accountability question. Reporter Kunle Falayi described records requests by Newport News resident Clayton Tye seeking the number of cases in which Flock data was used as evidence. Newport News was among the jurisdictions that said they did not track that use. (whro.org)
A count of camera detections, searches or alerts cannot automatically be treated as a count of solved crimes. Residents need to understand what each number measures.
The records reviewed for this story establish purchases, named officials and written safeguards. They do not establish that a Newport News officer misused Flock or that required monthly audits were skipped.
They do establish clear questions for public officials:
- What is the current inventory and annual cost of each Flock product?
- What have the required monthly audits found, and what corrective action followed?
- Which agencies currently have access to Newport News’s license-plate data?
- Where can residents find the required annual ALPR report?
- How will the city consistently measure investigative results against the cost?
Newport News has documented its willingness to expand surveillance technology. The public deserves an equally clear accounting of its results, access controls and oversight.
— Audit Newport News
