PEMBROKE — September 23, 2026 — The Pembroke Select Board heard from police, a Flock Safety representative and residents September 23 on the license plate reader cameras police lease, then put off taking a position until a later meeting. The police chief told the board she has cut authorized users from 32 to nine, shortened data retention from 30 days to seven and ended out-of-state and federal sharing.
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Wendy LaPierre, Pembroke’s Chief of Police, said she took the job about three months ago; her predecessor signed the Flock contract nearly 15 months ago, with her support. Since then, she said, she has limited access to sergeants, detectives and two patrol officers, removed all out-of-state access, set a 50-mile sharing radius, cut retention to seven days and begun audits generally every 14 to 30 days. She said 24 investigative searches were run last month, by three members of the department. The cameras are leased with narcotic forfeiture funds, which she said will cover the lease for two more years, and the department will look for grants next year. “We do not share information with ICE or any federal agency,” LaPierre stated.
Detective Bill Brennan said the system helped investigators corroborate a victim’s account and trace a suspect vehicle’s movements in the carjacking, kidnapping and sexual assault of an elderly woman, and placed a missing elderly person’s vehicle in Springfield before the person was found safe in Connecticut. He said the department has two detectives for a town of 18,500 people covering 24 square miles.
Karl Bach, who introduced himself as a public affairs manager with Flock Safety, said photos are permanently deleted when the retention period ends, that an officer must enter an offense type and case number before any search, that the town owns its data and the company does not sell it, and that the cameras use no facial recognition.
Vice-Chair Sean Keegan said he is not against license plate readers but is concerned about how the data is handled. He asked whether the board or the town manager had known about the system when it was installed. The town manager said he was aware the department was moving toward Flock but did not know the details.
Steve Ciciotti questioned the company on its contract terms. The company’s representative said Pembroke could opt out of a license letting Flock use anonymized images to improve its software, that an expedited removal before the contract ends could carry a cost such as $500 a device, and that he would have to follow up on the contract’s breach-notification timeline. Asked by Ciciotti, police said the department would seek Select Board approval before adding cameras or new capabilities.
The board ended divided over its own authority. Daniel Trabucco said that under the Town Manager Act the police department answers to the town manager, and the town manager said he would not need the board’s approval to keep the cameras, though he would want it. When Chair John Brown asked whether the board should deliberate that night, Trabucco said the board had no say beyond a political position. A majority chose to wait, and the chair said the board would return with a recommendation to the town manager.
