Virginia's new limits on automatic license plate readers are facing fresh scrutiny, Route Fifty reported on Monday, October 26, in reporting first published by the Virginia Mercury. The law, carried by Delegate Charniele Herring and signed by Governor Abigail Spanberger earlier this year, allows ALPR systems such as Flock only for defined purposes — investigating a suspected criminal violation where there is reasonable suspicion, locating missing or endangered persons and people associated with human trafficking, and alerts involving outstanding warrants, stolen vehicles or stolen plates — with documentation, reporting and oversight requirements.
Source: Route Fifty / Virginia Mercury, Oct. 26, 2026
Under the law, plate data may be shared with other Virginia law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, a criminal defendant or their counsel, or the ALPR vendor — and with federal partners only on a court order or court-issued subpoena, to alert the public to an emergency, or in the other listed circumstances, according to Route Fifty's summary of the statute. Herring's office did not respond to requests for comment about the use of ALPRs in Virginia since the law passed, the report said.
Source: Route Fifty / Virginia Mercury, Oct. 26, 2026
Smithfield officer shared data with the FBI — prosecutor declines charges
In Smithfield, a police officer shared data from the town's Flock system with the FBI, which was investigating the March 12 shooting at Old Dominion University that killed one person and injured several others, Route Fifty reported. Isle of Wight Commonwealth's Attorney Georgette Phillips recently said her office would not bring charges against the officer, writing that the officer was not found in violation because there was no criminal intent after the department was contacted to assist, once the investigation determined a resident had purchased the firearm used in town. “A law-enforcement agency may share system data with another law-enforcement agency as part of a criminal investigation of Virginia Code,” Phillips said, according to the report. WAVY News 10 has also reported that the Smithfield officer who shared the Flock data with the FBI will not be charged.
Source: Route Fifty / Virginia Mercury, Oct. 26, 2026; WAVY News 10
In an October 12 statement, Smithfield town leaders said the officer shared the information for a legitimate investigative purpose, but added: “However, a legitimate purpose does not remove our responsibility to understand and follow the requirements governing that information.” The town said it later learned the FBI is not included in the law's definition of law enforcement agencies for this sharing, that a court order or subpoena is required before sharing with the FBI, and that the department has implemented additional safeguards to prevent future incidents, according to the same reporting.
Source: Town of Smithfield statement, Oct. 12, 2026, via Route Fifty / Virginia Mercury syndication
Wrong-car tow in Richmond — and misuse cases elsewhere in Virginia
In Richmond, resident Rosalyn Crump told 12 On Your Side that police arrived at her Sussex Street home shortly before 2 a.m. on July 29 and towed her 2012 Hyundai Elantra after detectives used surveillance footage and Flock cameras to identify a vehicle they believed was connected to a drive-by shooting on St. James Street hours earlier that left two people injured. Police acknowledged to the station that the technology had led them to the wrong vehicle, according to the station's reporting. Crump said the incident left her frightened and without reliable transportation. These are her account and the station's reporting; no court finding is reported in the coverage.
Source: 12 On Your Side (WWBT), reported Oct. 2026
Elsewhere in Virginia, a Chesterfield County police employee was arrested on October 2 after an internal audit found she had allegedly unlawfully accessed the county's Flock cameras and state and national crime databases, and a former James City County officer resigned and turned himself in on 13 criminal counts, accused of using the department's ALPR system to spy on coworkers — allegations that have not been reported as proven in court — the South Boston News & Record (SovaNow) reported. Two Virginia senators are drafting responses for the next General Assembly session: Senator Mike Jones is preparing a bill creating criminal penalties and mandatory decertification for officers who misuse ALPR databases, while Senator Lashrecse Aird, joined by Republican Senator Glen Sturtevant, has filed early drafts of a bill that would ban commercial license plate reader networks statewide, according to SovaNow.