While the Kenton County Fiscal Court debates whether to approve license plate readers for county parks, 20 Flock Safety cameras are already operating in Fort Mitchell, Edgewood, Villa Hills and Lakeside Park under contracts those cities signed independently.
Public records obtained by LINK nky show 101 Flock Safety automated license plate reader devices are now approved for use across Boone, Kenton and Campbell counties, with more planned. The data, published Aug. 4, represents the first confirmed count of the surveillance network's footprint in Northern Kentucky.
What's in Kenton County
Fort Mitchell Police Department operates five devices at a cost of $34,000. Edgewood has four devices for $42,000. Villa Hills runs five cameras for $33,250, and the Lakeside Park/Crestview Hills Police Authority has three for $19,550.
The Kenton County Sheriff's Office has three devices, though the contract cost is unknown. Sheriff Jude Hehman did not respond to LINK nky's inquiries.
Fort Wright does not have a Flock contract. The city's council discussed a $79,700 proposal for four cameras at its Feb. 18 caucus meeting, but the proposal lacked majority support to advance to the March agenda.
County police still waiting
Kenton County Police Department, separate from the Sheriff's Office, does not yet have a contract. Chief Michael "Spike" Jones asked the fiscal court to begin bidding for six cameras at county park entrances and the jail parking lot, telling commissioners the devices would help prevent predators from targeting children at county parks. The court has postponed a vote twice, most recently on July 14, according to LINK nky's coverage of that meeting.
Commissioner Joe Nienaber voiced his own reservations at the July 14 meeting: "I struggle with it… I want our kids to be safe at parks, but I also worry about privacy rights."
No date has been set for the next vote.
Shared infrastructure already in place
A cost-sharing agreement signed Dec. 18, 2025, connects the Kenton County Sheriff's Office with Fort Mitchell, Lakeside Park, Edgewood, Villa Hills and other cities through Tyler Technologies call interfacing services. The agreement feeds Flock "hit lists" of flagged vehicles directly into the Kenton County Emergency Communications Center dispatch network used by all fire and police departments in the county.
The agreement is described as "perpetual" and "subject to automatic renewal."
State and federal pushback
Kentucky House Bill 58, signed by Gov. Andy Beshear in April, regulates ALPR technology statewide with database retention limits and restrictions on what information cameras can capture. Northern Kentucky Reps. Kim Banta, Marianne Proctor and TJ Roberts sponsored the bill.
At the federal level, Rep. Thomas Massie announced July 25 that he plans to introduce legislation withholding federal funding from departments that deploy Flock-style cameras. As we reported July 25, Massie is retiring from Congress after his seventh term ends in January.
Flock Safety is the only ALPR company operating in Northern Kentucky, according to the public records. The cameras read license plates, vehicle make, model and color, converting the data into searchable records for law enforcement. Flock says its cameras do not use facial recognition and typically retain data for 30 days.
The fiscal court's next meeting date for the ALPR vote has not been set.
