r/QuincyMa

TL;DR: In 2026, Quincy's plate camera data was included in over 5.1 million queries by 4,029 outside agencies in 46 states, including 57,650 by the FBI, almost all with no stated reason. QPD quietly shut off outside access on August 6. Chief Kennedy told the council it's a "closed system" on September 8, the same afternoon QPD started requiring case numbers for searches. Every search Flock's own audit tool flagged for review was archived with no recorded findings. Source: Quincy PD's Flock search audits, outside-agency query logs, and admin event logs, obtained through a FOIA request. Search data covers Jan 1 to Sep 29, 2026 (April 23 to 30 was missing from what was released).

1. The timeline

• April 24, 2025: Network set to "discoverable nationwide," auto-accepting requests within 500 miles
• April 13, 2026: Search reasons become required for the first time
• April 14, 2026: Flock's audit assistance tool turned on
• April 22, 2026: FBI granted access. Its first query runs the same day.
• June 4, 2026: First review of flagged searches, 51 days after the tool was turned on
• August 6, 2026: National and statewide lookup switched off, all sharing disabled, 689 organizations lose access at once. No public announcement I can find.
• September 8, 2026, ~1:08 PM: Case numbers made required. That evening, Chief Kennedy tells the council Quincy runs a closed system.
• September 14: Search reasons changed to a fixed list
• September 24: Case numbers required for hotlists too The access shutoff came 33 days before the testimony. The rules about why officers can search came the day of and after.

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2. Flagged searches that are never explained

• 54 searches flagged by Flock's audit tool since April 14
• All 54 marked "Archived." None marked anything else.
• On June 4, 35 were cleared in 66 minutes, a median of 68 seconds each
• 18 of those 35 came from one officer's searches
• No notes, findings, or record of who reviewed them Archiving a flag doesn't prove anything was wrong. But a minute per flag isn't much of a review, and the public has no way to know what was checked.

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3. How exposed was our data in 2026? From January 1 to August 6, Quincy's plate data was included in 5,115,431 queries by 4,029 outside agencies in 46 states plus DC. That's 25,000 to 35,000 a day on weekdays, right up to the shutoff.

• FBI: 57,650 queries, starting the day it got access. Every one was categorized "Other" or "Disorderly Conduct." 96.5% read "Other - Not Applicable." None listed a specific crime.
• U.S. Postal Inspection Service: 22,850
• Wright-Patterson Air Force Base: 208
• Intelligence units: NYS Crime Analysis Center (27,538), Georgia Dept. of Corrections Intelligence Unit (18,979), Texas Financial Crimes Intelligence Center (5,149), and fusion centers in Missouri, West Virginia, and Ohio
• 17,069 outside queries were labeled test or training

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4. How QPD used the system in 2026

• 6,187 searches from Jan 1 to Sep 29
• Until April 13, reasons were optional. 36% of searches before then had no written reason.
• 571 camera tests were logged under crime categories like drugs, alcohol, and shots fired. The system forced a crime category, so this may be bad setup rather than intent, but it inflates any crime-based reporting that QPD has sent out about how the system was used on these "crimes"
• Some searches were run on behalf of others, including an FBI task force officer and another town's police

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5. Questions for the mayor and chief Kennedy

• Why was outside access shut off on August 6 without telling the public (and why was it ever on in the first place)?
• Who reviewed the 54 flagged searches, and what did they find?
• Why did one officer account for half the Flock Internal Audit flags?
• Why did 950 searches this year have no written reason?
• Chief Kennedy said 134 plates were searched in 30 days. However for that same timeframe the log shows 415 searches, why is there a difference in his public comments and the actual logs?
• Why was the FBI given access, and why did none of its 57,650 queries name a specific crime?
• What stops sharing from being switched back on without public knowledge?

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> A city councilor told The Patriot Ledger on Thursday, Oct. 8, that she will introduce a formal measure to ban the controversial Flock license plate readers in Quincy at the next city council meeting Oct. 19, moving opposition to the surveillance technology into a legislative push.

> Councilor-at-large Ziqiang Susan Yuan was outspoken at a four-and-a-half hour public hearing on Oct. 6 where residents and activists demanded an end to the city's six-year deployment of 50 Flock license plate readers, while law enforcement touted the technology's effectiveness and recent safeguards put in place to curb misuse.

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Knock on the Mayor's office door and tell him to stop being overblown. Time for his tenure to be over

Reminder, Sept 15 the mayor said flock concerns are “way overblown as things traditionally get overblown.”

zyuan@quincyma.gov

amahoney@quincyma.gov

mmckee@quincyma.gov

driley@quincyma.gov

vryan@quincyma.gov

davidjacobs@quincyma.gov

whubley@quincyma.gov

rcash@quincyma.gov

ndibona@quincyma.gov

mayorkoch@quincyma.gov

Councilor DiBona has consistently over the years always been looking to pad his salary. Years back he was the lone councilor to vote for an increase. The previous council voted for the Mayor outrageous increase and who championed the council's increase, Noel DiBona. This past Monday he had the audacity to ask if a salary increase for the council is approved would it be retroactive. This is the same guy that preaches to the votes during is numerous campaigns his interest is the taxpayers. That is a disingenuous campaign statement year after year.

During Monday's meeting councilors were asked to look at surrounding towns and municipalities with similarities of Quincy. All councilors volunteered to take on the task except one, Noel DiBona. When he was asked if he was willing to participate, he chimed in with his choice being Cambridge a totally different governing structure. Guess why DiBona chose Cambridge, the councilors compensation is upwards to $ 88,000.00. Reason being is the councilors job entails ALLOT more then Quincy's. DiBona will use the figure without the facts to attempt to ask for more compensation. Sorry councilor the voters are smarter than falling for that devious move.

Final note it was noted the other night that the Quincy City Council job is fulltime, that classification was made years back, so each councilor is eligible for Health Insurance from the city and pension benefits. In the last session Councilor DiBona was the chair of Oversight and did not hold one meeting. Attending ribbon cuttings and photo ops does not constitute a fulltime status.

Saw about 6 then another 3 cars heading to the apartment complex on the Braintree town line near the shipyard/dispensary

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Thanks all!

People who use snow removal services. Who do you recommend?