Sandy Police Department still holds its own contract with Flock Safety even as a Utah nonprofit pushes the state to pull the plug on license plate reader cameras along state highways.

Utah Civic Compact announced the effort at a Friday, Oct. 9, news conference at the State Capitol, as first reported by Utah News Dispatch. The group said it found a termination clause by reading UDOT's contract with Flock Group Inc. line by line. The agreement allows UDOT to end the deal if it "determines that the public does not support the Company's activities."

The group argues that route is faster than waiting for the Legislature to act. Members are also lobbying lawmakers for tighter restrictions on license plate data.

Sandy PD has not commented on the push. The department's Flock contract, confirmed by KUTV 2News Investigates in July, is separate from UDOT's agreement. UDOT's contract covers permits for cameras along state highways at the request of law enforcement agencies. Local departments hold their own deals with Flock for cameras on city streets. Whether any Sandy PD cameras sit on state roads requiring UDOT permits is unclear.

The issue has already surfaced locally. Council Member Cyndi Sharkey told colleagues at the Sept. 29 council meeting that Sandy residents raised concerns about Flock cameras during a state representatives' listening tour, according to council minutes.

Clark Dice, a Utah Civic Compact spokesperson, said at the news conference that residents "do not trust this new technology, and they do not feel safe when they are being surveilled, cataloged, and … watched."

UDOT spokesperson John Gleason said the department's attorneys were reviewing the contract on Oct. 9. He said UDOT does not access data collected by Flock devices and does not decide where cameras go or how they operate. Those decisions belong to the law enforcement agencies that request the permits, Gleason said.

He added that UDOT is required by law to permit cameras designated for official police use. He did not know under what circumstances the department could revoke a permit.

The push comes amid broader scrutiny statewide. Gov. Spencer Cox said in August that Americans "should be deeply concerned" about police searching Flock data for personal reasons. He directed the Utah Privacy Governing Board and the Utah Privacy Commission to review camera regulations. Sen. Calvin Musselman, who chairs the Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Interim Committee, said on Sept. 17 that lawmakers were preparing a bill to strengthen privacy guardrails on automated plate readers.

Several Utah cities have already dropped Flock. Millcreek, Washington Terrace and Tremonton-Garland all ended their use of the cameras before Sept. 8. According to Flock Safety, its platform helps solve about 2,000 crimes per day nationwide.

Sandy's 2027 budget, finalized June 16, increased police department funding by nearly $1.6 million and invested in technology including five new drones and $63,000 for Truleo, an AI program that scans bodycam footage. Whether that budget includes Flock-related spending has not been publicly detailed.

No timeline has been announced for UDOT's contract review or for the Legislature's proposed bill.