What this is
Bentonville Parks & Recreation and the Bentonville Police Department have separately brought Flock Safety cameras into the city since 2024 — parking-lot and trail PTZ cameras from Parks, and a license-plate-reader (LPR) network from the Police Department. This page organizes the contracts, spending, correspondence, and usage data released in response to a FOIA request so far, in plain language, for residents to review. It will be updated as more records come in.
Money & contracts
Six purchase orders and agreements have surfaced in the records so far — four paid purchase orders for Parks & Recreation cameras (an original 2024 buildout plus two subsequent annual-subscription renewals that quietly expanded the system), one no-cost data-sharing agreement that gives the Police Department access to Flock's wider camera network, and a Purchase Order for BPD's own 5 license-plate-reader cameras. The 2024 and 2025 Parks contracts and the MOU were signed by Mayor Stephanie Orman; the later Parks subscription renewals and the PD's LPR purchase order were processed as routine Purchase Orders through the city's purchasing office, without a new Council vote.
| Agreement | Department | What it buys | Year 1 cost | Ongoing / yr | Signed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 Order Form Group 56040 / PO #22403431 |
Parks & Recreation | 16 Condor PTZ cameras w/ LTE, 7 park & trail sites | $56,040 | $48,000 | May 19, 2024 |
| 2025 Order Form #18750 / PO #22501643 |
Parks & Recreation | Camera implementation/professional-services fee (5 units) | $18,750 | $15,000 | Mar 16, 2025 / PO Mar 19, 2025 |
| Data Sharing MOU | Police Department | Access to Flock's national LPR search network (no hardware purchase listed) | $0 stated | $0 stated | Feb 7, 2025 |
| Purchase Order #22506068 "Flock Camera 2025-2026 Subscription" |
Parks & Recreation | Annual subscription renewal for the existing Parks Condor cameras | $48,000 | $48,000 | Nov 18, 2025 |
| Purchase Order #22505365 "Flock LPR Contract – Five LPR's" |
Police Department | 5 Flock LPR (Flex Bundle) license-plate-reader cameras + solar kits | $25,000 | $25,000 | Oct 10, 2025 |
| Purchase Order #22601327 "Flock Camera Annual Subscription — 6 Included / 6 Adding" |
Parks & Recreation | 2026 subscription renewal plus new cameras — expanding to Phillips Park and A Street Promenade | $22,500 | $22,500+ | Mar 6, 2026 |
The Parks contracts run 12 months, then auto-renew unless either side gives 30 days' notice — so the recurring subscription cost continues automatically and has grown with each renewal. The original 2024 buildout was sole-sourced: Flock's own sales rep confirmed in a Feb 2024 email that Bentonville was not on any buy boards
like the state TIPS cooperative-purchasing program, and the deal instead relied on a sole-source letter — meaning no competitive bidding process appears in the record. Across all six agreements found so far, the city has committed to at least $170,290 — and the PD's LPR contract alone still has $50,000 left to pay over its remaining two years.
The only Council vote on record for the Parks cameras is the original 8–0 vote on May 14, 2024, to buy 16 cameras for $56,040. Every expansion since then — the 2025 professional-services add, the 2025-26 subscription renewal, and the March 2026 purchase order that funds 6 more cameras for Phillips Park and the A Street Promenade — was processed as a routine Purchase Order through the city's purchasing office, not a fresh Council vote. Bentonville's own deputy parks director told a reporter in August 2026 the system had grown from 16 to 18 cameras, with a 19th planned. See Finding 18.
The $25,000 Purchase Order for BPD's 5 license-plate-reader cameras is only the first year's payment. The underlying Order Form Flock sent for legal review sets a 36-month initial term with a 36-month auto-renewal, billed annually at $25,000/year — a $75,000 three-year commitment, not a one-time $25,000 purchase. It's unclear from the records whether the Mayor ever signed the full Master Services Agreement through the city's DocuSign process the way the two Parks contracts were signed — the only executed document that has surfaced is the Police Department's own $25,000 Purchase Order. The MSA itself states that a customer purchase order does not alter its terms, so if the MSA was never separately executed, it's an open question what document actually governs this 36-month obligation. See Finding 16 below.
Separate from the Phillips Park / A Street Promenade expansion (Finding 18), the city's own adopted 2026 budget contains a Parks capital line item — $56,000 — for Flock cameras at three specific sites: BVL, Gateway and Dave Peel. This line was surfaced not by the city but by another resident's FOIA request, which cited the public budget document to help identify records it was after. No purchase order, contract, or camera-siting document for this $56,000 item has turned up in the records processed so far, so it isn't reflected in the table above and it's unclear whether it has been spent, is still pending, or overlaps with the March 2026 purchase order in some way the records don't show.
Fee schedule (both Parks contracts)
Beyond the base price, the contracts set fixed fees for anything that changes after installation:
| Service | Fee |
|---|---|
| Camera relocation, existing infrastructure | $350 |
| Camera relocation, Flock pole | $750 |
| Camera relocation, DOT-approved pole | $5,000 |
| Replacement camera (loss/theft/vandalism) | $800 |
| Full pole + camera + solar replacement | $1,300 – $5,800 |
| Trip charge (e.g. angle adjustment) | $350 |
| Non-standard "DOT pole" installation | $5,000 / camera |
Network & searches
Bentonville PD's Flock account shares camera data with other agencies and receives it from them in return. The department's own network-audit exports — three overlapping 30-day pulls between April 27 and July 25, 2026 — record 8,044 unique searches that touched Bentonville's shared data. Only about 1 in 9 came from Bentonville PD itself.
Who searched Bentonville's shared camera network
Every agency that ran at least one search, Apr 27 – Jul 25, 2026 (deduplicated by search ID)
What searches were logged for
Top 10 stated reasons, all agencies, same period
Who can see Bentonville's camera data
Bentonville shares its own two networks — the Police Department's LPR feed and the Parks Department's Condor cameras — outward to about 26 agencies, mostly other Arkansas police departments and sheriff's offices, plus a handful in Missouri and two Oklahoma tribal police agencies:
Alexander AR PD · Barry County SO MO · Benton AR PD · Benton County AR SO · Bryant AR PD · De Queen AR PD · Grant County AR SO · Haskell AR PD · Marshall AR PD · Miller County AR SO · Monett MO PD · Mountain Home AR PD · North Little Rock AR PD · Pea Ridge AR PD · Quapaw Nation OK Marshals Service · Rogers AR PD · Searcy County AR SO · Seligman MO PD · Siloam Springs AR PD · Springdale AR PD · Union County AR SO · University of Central Arkansas Campus PD · Ward AR PD · West Fork AR PD · Wyandotte Nation OK PD · Barry County SO / Seligman MO PD (via a network-sharing request tool, approved June–July 2026)
The reverse list — agencies that share their camera data back with Bentonville, which Bentonville can therefore search — is far larger than what BPD's own public Transparency Portal shows (that export cuts off alphabetically partway through the "A"s). A full sharing-network export dated November 19, 2025 already ran to several hundred agencies across at least 15 states plus federal, tribal, university and state-corrections networks; a newer export dated August 4, 2026 lists 572 agencies sharing into Bentonville's network — sheriff's offices and police departments across Missouri, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and beyond, university police (Purdue, University of Iowa, University of Louisville, UT Arlington), the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and multiple state departments of corrections. Bentonville shares back with roughly 26. And the ceiling on what can be shared isn't limited to search: the city's own sharing configuration has both of Bentonville's networks set to allow Search, Alerts, VMS, VMS PTZ, VMS PTZ Settings, VMS Imaging Settings
— i.e., live video and PTZ camera control, not just search of recorded plate data — as features available to grant. Individual outside-agency requests reviewed so far (West Fork AR PD, Seligman MO PD) were approved for narrower Search/Alerts access only, but the configuration means broader access is technically available to extend. See Finding 22.
What the records raise
These are factual observations drawn directly from the released documents, not legal conclusions. Each links to its source so it can be checked independently.
What Flock tells the public and what the city actually signed don't match on who owns the datahigh
Flock's public Transparency Portal and its August 2026 mass email both state, in effect, that the customer owns 100% of the data. But the Data Sharing MOU that Mayor Orman and then-Chief Ray Shastid signed says the opposite about the data itself.
Your community owns 100% of your data and it will never be sold.
Data Sharing MOU §9, "Ownership" (Feb 7, 2025):
Flock retains all right, title and interest in and to the Flock Service, Flock IP, and its components or data provided by Flock to Customer... Customer acknowledges that it neither owns nor acquires any rights, title or interest in Flock IP or Captured Data.Sources: Bentonville AR PD Transparency Portal; Data Sharing MOU, signed Feb 7, 2025
Most searches of Bentonville's camera data come from somewhere elsecontext
Of the 8,044 searches logged against Bentonville's shared network over three months, Bentonville PD ran about 11% of them. The rest came from a dozen other agencies, several outside Arkansas.
A search labeled "immigration" ran on the shared network, despite that use being explicitly prohibitedhigh
Bentonville PD's own published policy lists immigration enforcement as a prohibited use of the system. A partner agency logged three searches under that exact category anyway.
Immigration enforcement, traffic enforcement, harassment or intimidation, usage based solely on a protected class (i.e. race, sex, religion), Personal use.
Network audit: Rogers AR PD logged 3 searches on Jul 14, 2026, reason "Immigration (criminal) - Wanted Person," each searching 1,832 networks. Sources: Bentonville AR PD Transparency Portal; Network Audit export, 6/24–7/24/2026
Camera data can be searched by description alone, not just plate numbercontext
Flock's "vehicle fingerprint" search lets an officer type a plain description — no plate required — and search it against the camera network. 25 such searches appear in the audit period, all from Springdale AR PD, all auto-approved by content moderation.
silver or white four door ford car·
black older model dodge pickup with no tailgate·
Gray Toyota Camry no license plate. Sunroof.Source: Network Audit exports, "Text Prompt" field, Apr–Jul 2026
Update: the LPR hardware purchase has surfaced, and the "128 vs. 23" camera question is resolvedresolved
An earlier version of this page flagged that no purchase agreement for BPD's 5 LPR cameras had appeared, and that a Feb 2025 email referencing "128" seemed to conflict with the 23 cameras BPD's July 2026 transparency portal lists. Both are now resolved. The LPR purchase surfaced as a Purchase Order that stands alongside an unsigned Master Services Agreement — see Finding 16. And the "128" figure turns out to be unrelated to camera counts: it was a target for user accounts being loaded into the Flock platform, not cameras. A device-level export from August 2026 independently confirms exactly 23 physical devices on Bentonville's two networks — 18 Parks Condor PTZ cameras (across 9 park/trail sites, including 2 newly added at Phillips Park) and 5 Police Department LPR units — matching the portal's figure exactly. Separately, the city's Flock user-account list has since grown to 153 total accounts (129 active, 24 deactivated), consistent with continued growth from that original ~128 target.
All users have been loaded into the system.— followed by a reply:
I am only seeing 63 loaded. We should have 128.(referring to user accounts, per context, not cameras)
Transparency Portal, Jul 23, 2026:
Total Cameras: 23. LPR Cameras: 5.
Native Camera/Device export, Aug 2026: 18 rows of Device Type "Video Camera" on network "Bentonville Parks AR (Condor)" + 5 rows of Device Type "Flex LPR Camera" on network "Bentonville AR PD" = 23 total.
Organization Access export, Aug 2026: 153 total user rows (129 Active, 24 Deactivated). Sources: "Bentonville AR PD > Flock > Meeting follow up items" email thread, Feb 2025; Transparency Portal; Native Camera - Location Data.csv; Organization Access.csv
Access logs are kept "indefinitely," even though camera footage is deleted after 30 dayscontext
The underlying video/plate captures are purged on a 30-day cycle, but the record of who searched what, and why, is not.
All system access requires a valid reason and is stored indefinitely.Source: Bentonville AR PD Transparency Portal
Flock's liability to the city is capped at $100
Regardless of the claim — negligence, data loss, breach, or otherwise — the signed MOU limits Flock's liability to $100 total.
IN NO EVENT SHALL FLOCK... BE LIABLE FOR ANY AMOUNT GREATER THAN $100 IN UNITED STATES CURRENCY, WITHOUT REGARD TO WHETHER SUCH CLAIM IS BASED IN CONTRACT, TORT... PRODUCT LIABILITY OR OTHERWISE.Source: Data Sharing MOU, signed Feb 7, 2025
Records-request handling is written into the contract
A FOIA request or subpoena for data covered by the MOU is not treated as a breach of confidentiality — but the vendor gets advance notice and a chance to contest disclosure before it happens.
A disclosure of Confidential Information that is legally compelled... pursuant to... the Freedom of Information Act or Public Records Request shall not be considered a breach of this MOU; provided the receiving Party provides prompt notice... so that such Party will have the opportunity to obtain a protective order or otherwise oppose the disclosure.Source: Data Sharing MOU, signed Feb 7, 2025
Arkansas police chiefs are actively coordinating on what to withhold from Flock FOIA requestshigh
A statewide law-enforcement association forum post, addressed to member agencies including Bentonville, lays out which categories of Flock records agencies are treating as exempt from disclosure and why — audit logs, search logs, network-sharing records, and hotlist configuration among them.
The more complicated requests involve things like audit logs, search logs, access logs, network-sharing records, national lookup settings, outside-agency access lists, hot-list configuration records, purge/deletion logs, and other internal Flock platform records.The post cites Ark. Code Ann. §25-19-105(b)(11) (computer/security exemption) and §25-19-105(b)(6) (law-enforcement investigation exemption) as the basis. Source: "Arkansas Chiefs: A New Topic, Flock FOIA, Has Been Added!" email, Jul 8, 2026
Police-department access reaches into private business camera networks
Flock's own account manager proactively requested that Bentonville PD be granted search access to two national retailers' camera networks.
I have already sent Chief Shastid separate emails to request access to the Home Depot and Lowe's networks.Source: "Bentonville AR PD > Flock > Meeting follow up items" email thread, Feb 2025
The vendor is coaching city leadership on how to answer public questions about the system
The same month this FOIA request would have been in progress, Flock sent Bentonville's police chief marketing offering help preparing for exactly the kind of public accountability questions this document is meant to answer.
Today's council conversations often include: Who can access the data? How is the technology governed? What safeguards are in place? How can the public verify those safeguards?... Our new guide shares practical strategies for leading those conversations with confidence.Source: "Answering City Council Questions About Public Safety Technology" email, Jul 24, 2026
Flock is actively pitching the city on expanding beyond license plates
In June 2026, Flock marketed a drone-detection partnership to Bentonville that correlates a drone pilot's location with vehicle data from the LPR network — a capability beyond what residents may understand the system to cover today.
Pilot-to-Plate — where AirGuard surfaces an operator's location, analysts can correlate it with Flock's LPR data to connect a pilot to a vehicle and a roadway-level chain of evidence.Source: "Airsight + Flock: a new partnership in airspace security" email, Jun 17, 2026
Bentonville's own account has an unresolved compliance flag
Flock's Policy Team notified the city that its account mixes two email domains and asked for clarification by September 8, 2026, or the affected accounts would be deactivated. That deadline had not yet passed as of this review.
If we do not receive a response from you by 8 September 2026 we will deactivate the additional domains.Source: "Action Required: Flock Safety | Verification of Email Domains" email, Aug 25, 2026
The department is reconsidering its own usage after Flock's August 2026 policy changes
Flock lowered its default retention recommendation from 30 to 7 days and added new audit and lockout features company-wide, citing officers who had been arrested for misusing the system elsewhere. Chief Bertrand's response suggests Bentonville had not been closely tuning its settings before this.
I saw this yesterday and began making some adjustments to our flock usage. Let's set up a time next week to go over what I have set up and what we have learned. It is interesting.Source: "A new standard for public safety accountability" email thread, Aug 13–14, 2026
Camera reliability problems went unresolved for extended periods
During initial setup, multiple cameras lost power or failed to load for over an hour, and several were later found installed on the wrong pole.
C#001 - not registering that it is connected to power... C#015 - also not getting power, looking at the location notes, it was installed on a wrong pole and is being moved.Source: "Admin User Set up" email thread, Feb 2025
BPD's $25,000 LPR purchase order sits on top of an unsigned, three-year, auto-renewing contracthigh
On Sept 29, 2025, Flock sent Captain (now Chief) Bertrand's colleague, Captain Tony Marveggio, a quote and Master Services Agreement for 5 "Flex" LPR cameras, for legal review. The attached Order Form sets a 36-month initial term, auto-renewing for another 36 months, billed annually at $25,000/year — a $75,000 three-year commitment. Marveggio said the Mayor would sign it only after legal and accounting review, routed through DocuSign, the same process used for the two Parks contracts. But the only executed document that has surfaced is a Police Department Purchase Order for $25,000, issued Oct 10, 2025 — with blank, unsigned signature lines on the Order Form itself. The MSA's own terms say a customer purchase order does not alter or substitute for the Agreement, raising the question of what document, if any, was actually finalized to bind the city to the 3-year, auto-renewing term.
I am attaching both the quote for the 5 Flex LPR's, along with Flock's MSA language for your legal department to review... I will not send the contract until given the greenlight.
Marveggio, Sep 29, 2025:
The Mayor will be the one signing the contract, and everything has to go through Docusign. She won't sign anything unless legal and accounting reviews and signs before her.
Order Form, Exhibit A: Initial Term 36 Months, Renewal Term 36 Months, Annual Recurring Subtotal $25,000.00, Contract Total $75,000.00 — signature block for both Flock and "Customer: AR - Bentonville PD" left blank.
MSA §11.4, Entire Agreement:
None of Customer's purchase orders, authorizations or similar documents will alter the terms of this Agreement, and any such conflicting terms are expressly rejected.
Purchase Order #22505365, City of Bentonville, Department: Police, dated Oct 10, 2025: "Flock LPR Contract-Five LPR's," Extended Price $25,000.00, signed by Purchasing Manager Kelsi Frederick. Sources: "Bentonville PD | Flock Safety Quote + MSA" email thread, Sep–Oct 2025; MSA — AR Bentonville PD — Law Enforcement Agreement (25pp); City of Bentonville Purchase Order #22505365
Parks cameras sat broken for a month or more, with a Flock VP quietly approving an undisclosed "concession"high
Between May and July 2025, five Condor PTZ cameras (Condors 1, 2, 13, 15, 16) and four more (cameras 001, 002, 005, 006) went dark for extended periods while Flock waited on replacement parts, with no repair timeline given to the city for weeks at a time. Captain Bertrand, who had by then taken over pushing the issue, called the outage "unacceptable" and demanded a call from someone empowered to fix it. Flock ultimately escalated internally, sent a project manager to replace hardware the week of July 7, and — separately — a Flock VP approved an unspecified "concession" to Bentonville that was never itemized in the records released so far.
I could really use talking to someone about the 4 cameras 001, 002, 005, and 006 that have been down for a month... It is unacceptable to have these cameras down for this long.
Flock Regional CSM, May 21, 2025, on the Condor outages:
The reason why these keep getting pushed is b/c we are waiting on parts. At this time I do not have a timeframe of when we will get the parts.
Flock, Jun 17, 2025, on hardware condition:
We relocated the existing hardware to the new poles, but we are planning on coming back to replace it with a brand new compute box and camera.
Flock CSM to Capt. Bertrand, Jun 24, 2025:
I would like to discuss the concession that my VP, Lisa, approved last week.— no further detail on what the concession was appears in the records released so far. Source: "Bentonville Parks AR > Flock > Survey follow up" email thread, May–Jul 2025
The Parks camera system has grown well past what Council approved — through routine purchase orders, not a new votehigh
The City Council's only recorded vote on the Parks cameras was 8-0 on May 14, 2024, approving 16 cameras for $56,040. Every dollar spent since then — a $18,750 implementation fee (Mar 2025), a $48,000 subscription renewal (Nov 2025), and a $22,500 purchase order in March 2026 that explicitly funds 6 more cameras — was processed through the city's ordinary purchasing office as a Purchase Order, not put back in front of Council. By August 2026, Bentonville's own deputy parks director confirmed to a reporter that the system had grown from 16 to 18 cameras, with a 19th "soon," and Flock's own siting document lists two entirely new locations — Phillips Park (installed March 2026) and the A Street Promenade (not yet installed) — beyond the 7 park sites Council actually voted on.
Flock Security Camera Names/Locations document:
New Cameras Locations (specific locations TBD) — Phillips Park, A Street Promenade.
NWADG, Aug 12, 2026:
Josh Stacey, Bentonville's deputy parks director, said Tuesday the Parks Department has since added two Flock cameras to its system for a total of 18. It plans to add a 19th camera soon.Sources: Purchase Orders #22403431, #22501643, #22506068, #22601327; Flock Security Camera Names/Locations doc; NWADG, "Centerton City Council votes to remove Flock Safety cameras from town," Aug 12, 2026
The chief told a resident data auto-deletes after 30 days; the department's own written policy, issued three months later, says up to 150high
In May 2026, then-Chief Ray Shastid answered a resident's public-records question about Flock by saying data is deleted automatically after 30 days. In August 2026, Bentonville PD adopted its first-ever written ALPR policy — a stopgap "Written Directive" issued while a comprehensive policy is developed — which sets retention at up to 150 days for captured plate data, with public statistics preserved for 18 months. The department's original 2024 Parks camera quote separately listed a 30-day retention period for that system. The record doesn't show which retention period actually governs the Police Department's LPR data day to day, or why the public was told 30 days.
Flock systems are typically configured to automatically delete data after 30 days, unless local laws dictate otherwise or the data has been flagged for an active investigation.
Written Directive, Chief Glynn Bertrand, dated Aug 17, 2026:
Captured plate data shall not be preserved for more than 150 days, unless the data is lawfully retained as part of an ongoing investigation pursuant to A.C.A. § 12-12-1804.Statistical data must be preserved "for a minimum of eighteen (18) months."
2024 Parks budgetary quote: "Retention Period: 30 Days." Sources: "Is City of Bentonville Using Flock AI License Plate Readers" email thread, May 2026; "2026 ALPR Written Directive Draft" PDF, signed Aug 17, 2026; 2024 Parks Condor budgetary quote
Bentonville had no written ALPR policy until August 2026 — drafted in a nine-day sprint after months of public pressure
Two years after the Police Department began using Flock's license-plate readers, it still had no formal written policy governing their use — a gap the city's own records staff acknowledged in writing more than a month before the policy was drafted. On August 14, 2026, Chief Bertrand directed two captains to draft one "ASAP," targeting a full policy before Council on September 8, 2026. The interim Written Directive was signed August 17 and was still being circulated to the city's legal department for review as late as August 25. The timing follows a summer of public pressure: five nearby Arkansas cities — Centerton, Pea Ridge, Cabot, Mayflower and Greers Ferry — discontinued or declined to adopt Flock between June and August 2026, and multiple Bentonville residents wrote directly to the Mayor and City Council raising legal and privacy concerns over the same period.
This requestor seems to be asking for a few more items. If I remember correctly, we do not have a policy on this, but we have the email attached from Shastid on the process.
Chief Bertrand to Capt. Wood & Capt. Cizerle, Aug 14, 2026:
I need you two guys to work on a written directive and then a policy for the use of Automatic License Plate Readers... I would like a draft by August 19 so I can get it to legal. I know this is a rush, but we need the ASAP.
Kevin Cizerle to David Bailey (Legal), Aug 25, 2026:
Please see attached written directive regarding ALPR use. Let me know if you have any issues.
NWADG, Aug 12, 2026, on Centerton:
The Centerton City Council's six members voted unanimously Tuesday to end the contract... Officials in Pea Ridge, Cabot, Greers Ferry and Mayflower have stopped using Flock license plate readers in recent weeks.Sources: FOIA-PD-2026-1041 internal correspondence (Stegall/Wood/Bertrand/Cizerle), Jul 8–24, 2026; "Written Directive Draft" email thread, Aug 14, 2026; "2026 ALPR Written Directive Draft" email, Aug 25, 2026; NWADG articles, Aug 2026
A Parks & Recreation employee had Flock access the Chief said was restricted to one person — and it was quietly removed only after a resident asked why
At a City Council meeting, Chief Bertrand said only the Parks deputy director, Josh Stacey, has permission to access Flock through Parks and Recreation. A resident who had been raising questions about the program pointed out that at an August 3, 2026 Parks & Recreation Advisory Board meeting, board member David Wright had checked and found he still had access. When the resident asked the Chief about it directly, Bertrand said Wright's access had been removed — but only after the board meeting the resident was referencing, not before.
The Chief stated in the meeting, "We say parks and rec. I know deputy director Stacey back here is the only one that has that privilege to get into flock through parks and recreation." ... in the Aug 3rd Parks & Rec Advisory Board meeting David Wright, having seen recent questions around Flock and P&R had 'just checked' to see if he had access and he had access... When I asked the Chief about this he responded simply that, "David Wright had his permission removed and they opted to have only Josh Stacey with permission. This was done after the meeting you are referencing."Source: "Questions about access, audit, and the privatisation loophole around Flock" email, Aug 17–18, 2026
The data-sharing network Bentonville joined is far larger than its own transparency portal shows — and the sharing configuration allows more than searchhigh
BPD's public Transparency Portal lists roughly 20 partner agencies. Two internal network-sharing exports tell a different story: 572 outside agencies were sharing camera data into Bentonville's network as of August 4, 2026 (up from a similarly large list in November 2025), spanning at least 15 states plus federal, tribal, university and state-corrections agencies. Bentonville shares its own two networks back to only about 26 agencies. And the city's sharing configuration for both of its networks — not just search access — has "VMS," "VMS PTZ," and "VMS PTZ Settings" enabled as available features, meaning live video and camera-control access, not only historical search, is technically available to extend to partner agencies.
Shared Networks (Aug 4, 2026) export: 572 total rows; only 26 show an entry under "Networks I'm Sharing" (i.e., shared back by Bentonville).
Sharing Configuration Export.csv:
Bentonville Parks AR (Condor), Search, Alerts, VMS, VMS PTZ, VMS PTZ Settings, VMS Imaging Settings/
Bentonville AR PD, Search, Alerts, VMS, VMS PTZ, VMS PTZ Settings, VMS Imaging Settings. Sources: SharedNetworks_2025_November_19.csv; Shared Networks August 4 2026.csv; Sharing Configuration Export.csv
Flock's own sales rep pushed the city to sign the PD's contract before quarter-end, without going through the review Bentonville said it required
Captain Tony Marveggio told Flock's local rep on September 29, 2025 that the Mayor "will be the one signing the contract, and everything has to go through Docusign. She won't sign anything unless legal and accounting reviews and signs before her." The next day, Flock's Regional Sales Director, Mike Wahl, emailed Marveggio directly asking whether the Mayor might sign that same day — because Flock gets "an influx of orders on the last day of the quarter" and could prioritize hardware for Bentonville if the paperwork landed by that night. It's a routine vendor sales tactic, but it landed squarely on top of the review process the city had just described, and no signed Master Services Agreement has surfaced in the records to show how — or whether — that review actually happened before the department's $25,000 Purchase Order went out eleven days later.
Hi Captain, Nice to meet you. Do you think there is any chance the mayor would sign today? We get an influx of orders on the last day of the quarter, and I can prioritize inventory for you if you think it will be in by tonight. Thanks,
Tony Marveggio to Flock (Jason Lanthier), Sep 29, 2025:
The Mayor will be the one signing the contract, and everything has to go through Docusign. She won't sign anything unless legal and accounting reviews and signs before her.Source: "Bentonville PD | Flock Safety Quote + MSA" email thread, Sep 29–30, 2025
Bentonville's Flock network may already reach further than the sharing exports show — a Conway PD record places it in a data-sharing interface a year before the MOU shows meaningful traffic
A separate resident's FOIA request cited Flock records produced by the Conway, Arkansas Police Department that reportedly place "Bentonville AR PD" inside a network-sharing interface dated April 15, 2025 — about two months after Bentonville's own MOU was signed. That's consistent with the MOU, but it's an external confirmation that other agencies' own Flock records can show Bentonville's participation, independent of anything the city itself has released. It underscores that the full picture of who has visibility into Bentonville's camera data may only be reconstructable by cross-referencing other agencies' own public-records disclosures, not from Bentonville's records alone.
Flock records produced by Conway Police Department also place "Bentonville AR PD" in a network-sharing interface dated April 15, 2025.Source: FOIA request text (search-clarification section), citing a separate Conway PD Flock production
Timeline
First contact
Parks & Recreation (Josh Stacey) meets with Flock's regional rep to scope a "master plan" for cameras citywide. Flock confirms it is not on any state purchasing cooperative; a sole-source letter is used instead.
Wish list submitted
Parks sends a "dream coverage" map spanning 13 park and trail sites for a cost estimate, expecting to scale back once real pricing comes in.
First Parks contract signed
Mayor Orman signs for 16 Condor PTZ cameras. Year 1: $56,040.
Police data-sharing MOU signed
Chief Ray Shastid and Mayor Orman sign the no-cost MOU giving BPD a 90-day trial of national LPR network access.
Rocky rollout
Camera outages, a "63 vs. 128 cameras loaded" discrepancy, and a request to add Home Depot's and Lowe's private networks to BPD's search access.
Second Parks contract signed
5 more PTZ cameras, incl. downtown Promenade sites. Year 1: $18,750.
Extended Parks camera outages
Multiple Condor PTZ cameras down for a month or more awaiting parts; Capt. Bertrand calls it "unacceptable." A Flock VP later approves an undisclosed "concession."
PD LPR quote & MSA sent for review
Flock sends Capt. Marveggio a quote and Master Services Agreement for 5 LPR cameras — a 36-month, $75,000 total commitment — for city legal/accounting review before Mayoral e-signature.
Flock pushes for a same-day signature
Regional Sales Director Mike Wahl asks Capt. Marveggio if the Mayor might sign "today," citing quarter-end order volume — a day after Marveggio said the Mayor wouldn't sign without legal/accounting review first.
PD issues $25,000 Purchase Order
PO #22505365 for "Flock LPR Contract-Five LPR's," signed by Purchasing Manager Kelsi Frederick — the Year 1 payment on the 3-year MSA. No signed copy of the MSA itself has surfaced.
Installation friction
A private building owner declines to host cameras; two pole locations are held up by utility-ownership disputes.
Parks subscription renewed, $48,000
PO #22506068 renews the Parks Condor camera subscription for 2025-2026 — no new Council vote.
Parks system expands again, $22,500
PO #22601327 renews the subscription and funds 6 more cameras, extending to Phillips Park and the A Street Promenade.
Resident presses Mayor & Chief on Flock
Aniruddha Marathe asks whether Bentonville is reconsidering its Flock use; Chief Shastid replies that data is deleted after 30 days.
Drone-detection pitch
Flock markets its Airsight/AirGuard drone-detection partnership to Bentonville PD.
Statewide FOIA guidance circulated
The Arkansas Association of Chiefs of Police shares a legal framework for what Flock records agencies can treat as exempt from public-records requests.
City records staff confirm: no written Flock policy exists
Forwarding a new FOIA request to the Chief and Capt. Cizerle, records coordinator Tiffany Stegall writes: "If I remember correctly, we do not have a policy on this" — five weeks before the first written directive is drafted.
"Immigration" search logged
Rogers AR PD runs 3 searches on the shared network under that reason code.
Transparency Portal snapshot
BPD's public dashboard shows 23 cameras, 302,400 vehicles detected and 129 searches in the trailing 30 days.
Placed on Council agenda
"Flock Camera Update" is routed to the City Council's Committee of the Whole for August 11, 2026.
Unauthorized access surfaces
A Parks & Rec Advisory Board member is found to still have Flock access the Chief had said was restricted to one employee.
Residents press the Council directly
Resident JP McCrory sends the Mayor a detailed letter on accuracy, security and legal risk; Chief Bertrand briefs the City Council the next day. Four residents speak against Flock in public comment; Council takes no action.
Centerton drops Flock; press covers Bentonville's holdout
Centerton's Council votes 6-0 to end its Flock contract. NWADG reports Pea Ridge, Cabot, Greers Ferry and Mayflower have also stopped using it; Bentonville and three other NWA cities keep theirs.
Flock lowers default retention; PD ordered to draft a policy
Company-wide policy shift to a 7-day default (from 30) after officers elsewhere were arrested for misusing the system. The same week, Chief Bertrand orders BPD's first written ALPR directive drafted "ASAP."
First written ALPR policy signed
Chief Bertrand signs an interim Written Directive setting a 150-day data-retention limit — Bentonville PD's first formal ALPR policy since adopting the technology in 2024.
More residents raise legal questions
JP McCrory questions the Chief's access-control account with a Council member; Ani Marathe again asks the Mayor and Council to reconsider, citing 6 Arkansas cities that have now dropped Flock.
Domain-verification notice; directive circulated to Legal
Flock flags mismatched account domains, giving the city until Sept 8, 2026 to respond. The same day, the written directive is sent to the city's legal department for review.
This review compiled
90+ records processed so far; more are expected. A comprehensive ALPR policy is due before Council on Sept 8, 2026.
Who's who in the records
City of Bentonville
Flock Safety
Documents processed so far
Every claim on this page traces back to one of these. Files are listed by type; dates are as stated in the document, not the FOIA release date.
Contracts & agreements
- Contract2024 Order Form — Security Cameras in Park System (Group 56040)May 19, 2024
- Contract2025 Order Form — Cameras, Flock Safety (#18750)Mar 16, 2025
- MOUData Sharing Memorandum of Understanding, Flock Group & Bentonville PDFeb 7, 2025
- ContractMaster Services Agreement — AR Bentonville PD Law Enforcement Agreement (unsigned, 25pp, w/ Exhibit A Order Form)Sent Sep 29, 2025
- Purchase OrderCity of Bentonville PO #22403431 — "Security Cameras in Park System" (16 Condor)May 31, 2024
- Purchase OrderCity of Bentonville PO #22501643 — Video Camera Prof. Serv. Implementation Fee (5)Mar 19, 2025
- Purchase OrderCity of Bentonville PO #22506068 — "Flock Camera 2025-2026 Subscription"Nov 18, 2025
- Purchase OrderCity of Bentonville PO #22505365 — "Flock LPR Contract-Five LPR's"Oct 10, 2025
- Purchase OrderCity of Bentonville PO #22601327 — Annual Subscription, 6 Included / 6 AddingMar 6, 2026
- PolicyBPD Written Directive — Automatic License Plate Readers (interim policy, 150-day retention)Signed Aug 17, 2026
Policy & usage data
- PolicyBentonville AR PD Transparency Portal (public dashboard snapshot)Jul 23, 2026
- DataNetwork Audit export, 4/27–5/26/20263,662 rows
- DataNetwork Audit export, 6/23–7/23/20264,134 rows
- DataNetwork Audit export, 6/24–7/24/20264,241 rows
- RecordsFlock Camera Locations memo & site maps (13 park/trail sites)Mar 2, 2024
- DataFlock Security Camera Names/Locations (23 active + 2 new sites TBD)Aug 2026
- DataNative Camera - Location Data.csv (device-level export, GPS + work-order history)Aug 2026
- DataOrganization Access.csv (153 Flock user accounts, roles & admin status)Aug 2026
- DataSharing Configuration Export.csv (feature-level sharing settings)Aug 2026
- DataSharedNetworks_2025_November_19.csv (network-sharing snapshot)Nov 19, 2025
- DataShared Networks August 4 2026.csv (572-agency network-sharing snapshot)Aug 4, 2026
- RecordsOutside Flock Requests — network-sharing tool approvals (West Fork AR PD, Seligman MO PD)Jun–Jul 2026
Correspondence
- EmailBentonville / Flock — initial scoping threadFeb 2024
- EmailAdmin User Set up — camera outages & access issuesFeb 2025
- EmailBentonville AR PD > Flock > Meeting follow up itemsFeb 2025
- EmailBentonville Parks – Flock PTZ project (siting thread)Oct 2025 – Jan 2026
- EmailAction Requested: Pending Flock Camera Share Requests (West Fork AR PD)Jul 15, 2026
- EmailAirsight + Flock: a new partnership in airspace securityJun 17, 2026
- EmailArkansas Chiefs: A New Topic, Flock FOIA, Has Been Added!Jul 8, 2026
- EmailAnswering City Council Questions About Public Safety TechnologyJul 24, 2026
- EmailAgenda Items for August 11 (routing memo, 3 attached forms)Jul 31, 2026
- EmailA new standard for public safety accountability (+ internal forward)Aug 13–14, 2026
- Email[Reminder] Quick question about Flock Safety (satisfaction survey)Aug 22, 2026
- EmailAction Required: Verification of Email Domains in Your OrganizationAug 25, 2026
- EmailIs City of Bentonville Using Flock AI License Plate Readers (Marathe ↔ Mayor/Chief thread)May 2026
- EmailConcerns Regarding Flock Safety Cameras (JP McCrory to Mayor)Aug 10, 2026
- EmailFollow-Up Regarding the Use of Flock Cameras in Bentonville (Marathe to Mayor/Council)Aug 16–20, 2026
- EmailFreedom of Information for Flock Safety Systems (Hansel ↔ Capt. Cizerle)Aug 18, 2026
- EmailQuestions about access, audit, and the privatisation loophole around Flock (McCrory to Councilman Sooter)Aug 17–18, 2026
- EmailWritten Directive Draft (Chief Bertrand's tasking to Wood & Cizerle)Aug 14, 2026
- Email2026 ALPR Written Directive Draft (Cizerle to Legal for review)Aug 25, 2026
- EmailSuggested language for FOIA Response (directive as the department's stated policy)2026
- EmailArkansas Chiefs: A New Topic, Flock FOIA, Has Been Added! (statewide FOIA-exemption guidance)Jul 8, 2026
- EmailNWADG: Centerton City Council votes to remove Flock Safety cameras (incl. Bentonville reporting)Aug 12, 2026
- EmailNWADG: Some in Northwest Arkansas worry Flock cameras invade privacy...Aug 15, 2026
- EmailAttached signed MOU by Mayor (Data Sharing MOU delivery)Feb 7, 2025
- EmailPermission letter from City (Flock-drafted pole-access letter, signed by Josh Stacey)May 20, 2024
- EmailContract and MAP (2024 Parks quote & deployment map, w/ discount detail)Apr 22, 2024
- EmailBentonville PD | Flock Safety Quote + MSA (Wahl's quarter-end signature request)Sep 29–30, 2025
- EmailFOIA-PD-2026-1041 internal correspondence (Stegall/Wood/Bertrand/Cizerle — "we do not have a policy")Jul 8–24, 2026
- RecordsFOIA-PD-2026-1100 request text (cites adopted 2026 budget's $56,000 BVL/Gateway/Dave Peel line; Conway PD network reference)2026
Open questions for the next records request
- Was the PD's LPR Master Services Agreement ever actually signed? A Purchase Order for $25,000 (Year 1 of a 3-year, $75,000 total commitment) has surfaced, but the Order Form and MSA that were sent for legal/Mayoral review show blank signature lines. What document, if any, was finally executed — and did the Mayor and legal/accounting ever complete the DocuSign review Capt. Marveggio described?
- What was the undisclosed "concession" a Flock VP approved for the Parks Department in June 2025? Referenced once in the records, with no dollar amount, credit, or extended service detail given.
- Did the comprehensive ALPR policy actually go before Council on September 8, 2026 as planned, and what did it say? The interim Written Directive was explicitly a stopgap; the outcome of the follow-up policy process isn't in the records reviewed so far.
- Which retention period actually governs BPD's LPR data — 30 days, as the public was told in May 2026, or up to 150, as the August 2026 written policy states? Both appear in the official record; neither document explains the other.
- Was there ever a formal review of who else, besides David Wright, held Flock access they shouldn't have? The one access-control lapse that surfaced was found by a resident, not by an internal audit.
- What is the status of the A Street Promenade camera installation funded by the March 2026 purchase order? Phillips Park shows as installed in the device export; A Street Promenade does not yet appear.
- Was the Home Depot / Lowe's private-network access request approved? Follow-up correspondence confirming or declining it hasn't appeared yet.
- What's the full list of the 572 agencies now sharing camera data into Bentonville's network, and has any use of it been audited? The August 2026 export lists agencies by name but not what, if anything, Bentonville has done to vet or monitor that access.
- Did the September 8, 2026 domain-verification deadline pass, and what happened? Flock's email threatened to deactivate accounts on mismatched domains if the city didn't respond in time.
- What happened to the $56,000 "Flock Security Cameras (BVL, Gateway, Dave Peel)" line item in the adopted 2026 Parks capital budget? No purchase order, contract, or siting document for it has surfaced yet — it isn't clearly the same expansion as the March 2026 purchase order for Phillips Park and the A Street Promenade.
- What does the Conway, Arkansas Police Department's own Flock production show about Bentonville's participation in the network as of April 2025? That record hasn't been obtained directly — only referenced secondhand in another resident's FOIA request.
Share information about Bentonville's Flock cameras
Have a public document, firsthand observation, meeting note, correction, or lead that may help complete this record? Send it for review. Submissions are not published automatically.
Please protect private information. Do not submit license-plate numbers, faces, home addresses, phone numbers, medical information, login credentials, or details that could identify a private citizen. Redact personal information from documents before sending them.