NO ONE WANTS TO SAY WHO JUST PUT A PAIR OF 'FLOCK' CAMERAS IN PLATTSBURGH
NORTH COUNTRY ASSEMBLYMAN MICHAEL CASHMAN BLINDSIDED BY FLOCK CAMERAS IN HIS OWN DISTRICT, CALLS FOR ALBANY LAWMAKERS TO ACT
FLOCK-style license plate tracking cameras on State Route 9 near the McDonald’s in Plattsburg, New York, on Sept. 26, 2026. Politicians and police officials at all levels of government either say they don’t know anything about the cameras or refuse to admit they had them placed there. The cameras are part of a growing network of at least 74 cameras at 37 locations in northern New York. Photo credit: JB Nicholas.
MALONE, NEW YORK SEPT. 29, 2026
PART 6 OF A SERIES
A growing network of “FLOCK” surveillance cameras secretively deployed throughout northern New York now suddenly includes a pair in downtown Plattsburg and the State Assemblyman who represents the area said he is "working with my colleagues in the Legislature to find solutions."
Michael Cashman told The Free Lance News in an emailed statement on Monday "my office does not receive notice of or have access to the information related to the installation of these cameras." But, he added, the "public’s privacy must be protected and transparency prioritized regarding the storage and use of data collected by these cameras."
Plattsburgh Mayor Wendell K. Hughes and all seven members of the Plattsburgh Common Council did not respond to an invitation to comment on the new "FLOCK" cameras in Plattsburg by press time.
The new FLOCK-style cameras in Plattsburg are part of a network of license plate tracking cameras in the North Country first revealed by The Free Lance News Sept. 17. The growing domestic surveillance network has at least 74 cameras currently deployed at 37 locations in not just Clinton, but Franklin, St. Lawrence, Jefferson, Essex and Warren counties.
The network is constantly growing. The one in Plattsburgh was added within the last month.
No one, no government agency—county, state or federal—has been willing to claim ownership of the network.
That includes Gov. Kathy Hochul. Permission from the governor's administration was required to deploy the network, and is continuously required to keep it in place. The governor's press office has repeatedly ignored requests to clarify who is installing the network, who controls the network and who has access to the enormous database of personal information of millions of Americans the network collects and exploits.
The "FLOCK" surveillance network being set up throughout northern New York is the result of a collaboration between Pres. Donald Trump and Gov. Hochul. The network appears to belong to both US Customs and Border Protection and the New York State Police, as first reported by The Free Lance News. The Federal government is also paying counties to deply FLOCK cameras.
While denying the network’s cameras belong to the State Police, a State Police spokesman told The Free Lance News last week that they have access to the database of vehicle information the cameras capture.
A spokesman for US Customs and Border Protection previously did not deny it is part of the network. In fact, the spokesman strongly suggested it was.
'FLOCK' cameras have been installed by law enforcement agencies across the Nation, without little public debate and little public oversight. They are becoming politically radioactive in the face of a grassroots, bipartisan uprising against them.
The cameras capture not just the license plate of every single vehicle that passes them. They also capture the model, make, year, color, missing or covered license plates and other individualized features like roof racks, bumper stickers and dents.
One source tells The Free Lance News the cameras are so powerful they can read the registration and inspection stickers on vehicle windshields.
Because FLOCK dominate the domestic market for automated license plate reading cameras, as the cameras are officially called, FLOCK has become synonymous with the technology.
The automated license plate reading cameras that belong to the joint federal and state network spreading throughout northern New York are manufactured by Motorola, not FLOCK. They are deployed in pairs, facing in opposite directions.
The cameras are plain to see once you start looking for them. Otherwise you might not even be aware of them.
They are usually attached to a utility pole by a large metal arm that overhangs at least some part of the roadway. In two places, The Free Lance News has observed them hidden inside fake utility boxes.
National Grid, the public utility on whose poles most of the cameras are hung, refuses to disclose who is putting the cameras on their poles.
The pair in Plattsburgh are on State Route 9 just up the road from the local McDonalds.
In Clinton County, pairs of Motorola cameras belonging to the federal and state network are also located on Commodore Thomas McDonough Highway in Cumberland Head, on State Route 11 in Rouses Point and on State Route 190 in Ellenburg.
The Cumberland Head cameras are next to the Vermont ferry port, while the cameras in Rouses Point are near the bridge to Vermont. Another pair of the federal and state network's cameras are in Essex County near the Lake Champlain Bridge—which connects New York and Vermont.
That makes these three pairs of cameras appear intended to monitor travelers going to and coming from the Green Mountain state.
State Assemblyman Michael Cashman (D-115) on Monday, Sept. 28, speaking with North Country Community College leaders in Saranac Lake. Photo credit: unknown, courtesy of Michael Cashman via Facebook.
A pair of 'FLOCK' cameras in Rouses Point that belong to the federal-state network were previously concealed in a fake utility box on a lightpole. They were updated and put on a pole like most of the pairs of cameras that belong to the network in August.
These four pairs of eight cameras on public property in Clinton County are in addition to the FLOCK-brand cameras deployed on private property at two strip-malls in Plattsburgh: Champlain Centre and Champlain Centre South.
The license and vehicle information these FLOCK cameras on private property collect is likely shared with the federal and state network. The information gathered by FLOCK cameras on private property is typically shared with government law enforcement agencies, an ongoing investigation by The Free Lance News has revealed.
Christine Peters, the Clinton County administrator, previously declined an invitation to comment on the “FLOCK” cameras in Clinton County, "at this time."
Send tips or corrections to jasonbnicholas@gmail.com or, if you prefer, thefreelancenews@proton.me