FOIA Friday: Locations Of 600 Flock Cameras Now Public In Hampton Roads Following Lawsuits

By Staff Report, Virginia Mercury

December 5, 2025

One of the less noticed features of the Virginia Way is the long-running tendency of the commonwealth’s leaders to conduct their decision-making behind closed doors. While the Virginia Freedom of Information Act presumes all government business is by default public and requires officials to justify why exceptions should be made, too many Virginia leaders in practice take the opposite stance, acting as if records are by default private and the public must prove they should be handled otherwise.

In this feature, we aim to highlight the frequency with which officials around Virginia are resisting public access to records on issues large and small — and note instances when the release of information under FOIA gave the public insight into how government bodies are operating.

Locations of hundreds of Flock cameras in Hampton Roads revealed

In late November a federal judge in Norfolk released the location of about 600 Flock Safety security cameras in the region, the Virginian Pilot reported. The release comes after local cities and counties have rejected requests from media and activists for lists of camera locations.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Lawrence Leonard ordered the regional list be unsealed as part of a pending federal lawsuit against Norfolk. It’s also not the first time a lawsuit has ensued in Virginia over murky access to the cameras. A Cardinal News reporter drove 300 miles through Southwest Virginia and submitted requests to see captured footage of their drive — ultimately taking localities to court over the matter.

Flock cameras are a form of what is known as an automated license plate reader; the technology has been used nationwide by law enforcement to assist with investigations. However, the technology has been scrutinized, including in Virginia, for potential law enforcement overreach and for privacy concerns.

As the cameras proliferate across the commonwealth, state lawmakers passed a new law this year to regulate the technology by setting limits on data storage time frames and other guardrails, but it was heavily debated and nearly defeated along its journey to become law.

Martinsville fulfills a FOIA, with heavy redactions

Cardinal News sought information on a misconduct investigation against Martinsville’s former city manager via a Freedom of Information Act request — but the document the city responded with was almost entirely redacted.

Martinsville City Council was split in their votes on whether or not to release the investigation to the public earlier this year, following the completion of the probe led by law firm Sands Anderson. The heavily redacted documents are one of three versions of the report to circulate within city hall and to councilors.

A less redacted version was given to councilors and that version was what Cardinal had requested, but the city’s FOIA officer instead gave the newsroom the version with much of the content edited out.

Alexandria’s school board may create a website to boost transparency

Alexandria’s school board is considering creating its own website in order to boost transparency, ALX Now reported.

The site would include two posts per month at a minimum and up to 35 posts per month. Content would be topical explainers on key decisions made by the board, information under review by the board that is not confidential, along with board members’ statements as well as vote results and progress updates on matters the board is working on.

“According to a draft proposal, Board Chair Michelle Rief would designate two board members to be co-editors to manage content, and that all content not republished from the Alexandria City Public Schools website would have to be approved by the school system’s attorney before publication,” ALX Now wrote.

The board would review the website’s policy annually, if it comes to fruition.

The Mercury’s efforts to track FOIA and other transparency cases in Virginia are indebted to the work of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government, a nonprofit alliance dedicated to expanding access to government records, meetings and other state and local proceedings.

State senator’s FOIA shed more light on former UVA president’s departure

State senator Creigh Deeds, D-Charlottesville, received a more than 200-page response to a Freedom of Information Act request he sent last month seeking more details about former University of VIrignia president Jim Ryan’s resignation.

Deeds then gave the details to UVA student newspaper, Cavalier Daily, which had also submitted FOIAs on the matter but had not received records.

Among the details Deeds gleaned were community announcements surrounding Ryan’s resignation, letters from the Justice Department and previously unreleased records like text messages and emails between Board of Visitors members and Ryan’s initial resignation letter.

Ryan’s departure from UVA made local, state and national headlines this year amid pressure from President Donald Trump’s administration, which has targeted public universities’ Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies this year.

This story was originally published by the Virginia Mercury. For more stories from the Virginia Mercury, visit VirginiaMercury.com.