· Monongalia County, WV · Investigation
Records analysis: Monongalia County, WV Flock data searched about 3 million times in nine months
DeFlock Monongalia, a local group critical of license-plate readers, analyzed sheriff's office audit logs and counted 3,049,590 searches touching the county's camera data from Jan. 1 through Sept. 30, 2026, by 3,918 organizations, many outside West Virginia. It said 81.38% lacked a case-specific reason and that 3,181 of those organizations were not on the county's sharing list of 14 agencies. WV News noted the records don't show that those searches broke law or policy. The sheriff's own earlier sample audit found the searches it reviewed complied with policy and credited the cameras with helping find a murder suspect's vehicle. The county pays $59,200 a year for 20 cameras under a 36-month contract.
Sources
We summarize what the cited reporting says and link it so you can check us. Read our editorial standards; spot an error? See the corrections log.
What you can do
Find out what your own town's cameras collect and who can search them.
Request my town's records →Local file: morgantown, WV
More news
- Rep. Tlaib introduces bill to ban federal funds for Flock and other ALPRs (October 14, 2026)
- Houston police searched UNC Charlotte's Flock camera network more than 183,000 times in three months (October 14, 2026)
- Police credit a Flock camera in the arrest of a Brooklyn Center teen charged in a Shakopee park killing (October 14, 2026)