Each Flock Safety license plate reader node captures plate text, a timestamp, a location, and basic vehicle attributes, writing those records into a database accessible to agencies beyond the local department that deployed it. That shared-access model was already the center of a contract dispute when, on Sept. 2, Rio Rancho, New Mexico resident Jevon Martinez filmed himself pulling 10 Flock camera systems from their mounts across Bernalillo County and loading them into his pickup truck while explaining his reasoning to a live online audience.
Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen had moved to end BCSO's three Flock Safety contracts before Martinez acted. Allen cited concerns over privacy safeguards, data sharing, and his confidence in the vendor. The contracts covered five automated license plate reader cameras, 16 speed cameras connected to the Flock network, and gunshot detection technology. Allen told reporters he still supports ALPR technology and plans to evaluate other vendors.
The ownership gap at the center of the case
Martinez described the removals as civic assistance. He told viewers that BCSO was no longer subscribed to Flock and that he was returning equipment left unattended. His videos documented his face, voice, and the hardware accumulating in his truck bed. He called the cameras "tyranny trees" and narrated the haul in a tone that read more like a challenge than a discreet retrieval operation.
The case against him turns on who actually owned the hardware. Bernalillo County authorities say only two of the 10 removed systems were associated with BCSO. The other eight were managed by neighborhood associations. Authorities estimated the combined value of the removed equipment at $16,500.
Martinez drove past BCSO headquarters three times before deputies stopped him outside the building with guns drawn. He was unarmed. He faces a charge of larceny over $2,500 and a charge of interference with communications; court records differ on whether the larceny count is framed as attempted or completed. At a Sept. 4 virtual appearance in Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court, Judge Claire McDaniel declined to order pretrial detention in the Bernalillo County matter.
He did not leave custody. Sandoval County held him on a separate case involving the alleged removal and damage of three other license plate reader systems, where he faces nine felony charges and a reported release-condition violation. A grand jury has since indicted him in that case.