The Des Moines SentinelIowa government, on the record
Editorial collage of permit papers, a roadside camera pole, a blank registration card and a broken timeline.
The permits establish a city paper trail for Flock camera poles. They do not establish who performed every part of the installation work.

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Data Investigation

A 30-Day Window Limits the Public View of Surveillance Searches

Eight overlapping audit exports show whole rows turning over in a pattern consistent with a rolling window. The evidence does not show intentional alteration—but it exposes a serious obstacle to public oversight.

· 2 min read

Public-records tracker

Latest record activity

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  1. AcknowledgedFlock Safety search audits, administrative reports, and public-report calculationsCity of Cedar Rapids — Office of the City Clerk / Police Records Division
  2. PartialFlock Safety service agreement, prior agreements, amendments, right-of-way permits, and procurement correspondenceWaukee City Clerk
  3. Fulfilled97-email batch (Flock Safety procurement correspondence)West Des Moines City Clerk

The investigation so far

The surveillance file

What the public record establishes, what it leaves unresolved, and which records could move the investigation forward.

Known

Documented findings

  1. 01WDM has an active Flock ALPR program with retroactive search and real-time hotlist-alert functionality.
  2. 02WDM has ALPR Policy 426 governing ALPR capture storage access and use.
  3. 03The investigation's compiled records include the Flock agreement, an amendment, budget documents, maps, portal captures, permits, and audit-log exports.

Unknown

Questions still open

WATCH-001West Des Moines named Clearview AI. The paper trail has not followed.

A 2023 police assessment lists the facial-recognition company, while the records assembled so far establish no contract, invoice, policy, usage history, or current status.

Next record: A technology inventory is a lead, not an explanation. Contracts, policies, invoices, access records, and search logs would show what happened next.

WATCH-002The request for an early signature is documented. The signature timeline is not.

Flock Safety sought a conditional signature before the council vote, but the available records do not establish that West Des Moines signed the agreement early.

Next record: The unresolved sequence determines whether private execution followed the public decision—or got ahead of it.

WATCH-003A rolling audit window leaves yesterday's searches outside tomorrow's export.

Eight overlapping exports show whole-row turnover consistent with a roughly 30-day window. They do not show intentional alteration.

Next record: Without durable exports or agency retention, later productions may be unable to reconstruct earlier activity.

Key numbers from the records 6 documented measures
Reported seconds of the council's consent-agenda vote on the Flock contract (per direct human review of the primary recording)
34
Times the word "Flock" was spoken during the vote, per direct human review of the primary recording
0
Row-level field changes found across the 8 WDM audit-log snapshots (independent re-analysis; differences match a rolling ~30-day export window)
0
ROW permits for Flock ALPR pole installations (each scanned form records the fee as waived; waiver authority and reason not established)
16
Distinct surveillance-technology categories referenced in the record (Flock ALPR, OWL/AXIS cameras, Clearview AI, NCIC/interstate sharing)
4
OWL cameras a 2022 document reportedly names (not yet independently attached); PD's April 8, 2026 response addresses only its own software inventory, not physical hardware
11
Explore the source library Records, timeline and verification data