Visitors driving onto the campus of the YMCA of the Rockies may notice something new. Flock security cameras have recently been installed just beyond the main entrance and on the service entrance road at the Estes Park Center, and at the entrance to the Snow Mountain Ranch facility.
According to Jason Nelson, the YMCA’s marketing and communications director, the cameras are part of the Y’s “ongoing commitment to the safety and well-being of our guests, staff, and community.”
Flock cameras capture license plate images and feed the information into a database. According to Nelson, “these cameras are focused solely on vehicles entering and exiting the property and do not use facial recognition or identify individuals for personal monitoring.”
Estes Park Police Chief Ian Stewart has expressed interest in installing Flock cameras at four entrance points to Estes Park: Colorado State Highways 36, 34, 7, and County Road 43.
Flock is one of the leading automatic license plate recognition systems used by thousands of law enforcement agencies, homeowners’ associations, and businesses to capture license plate information, along with the make, model, color, and unique features of vehicles.
When a car passes a solar-powered Flock camera, the camera also records the time, date, and location. If data about the vehicle has been fed into an alert system in the case of a stolen car, Flock can notify law enforcement that a car is in the vicinity.
According to a presentation by Flock representative Kristen McLoud in the Estes Park Town Hall last summer, the technology is not programmed for face recognition nor set up to monitor for traffic violations, and the leasing organization owns the data, which Flock does not share with any other organizations.
“We have about 6,000 residents here, but for me, and I am speaking through the lens of my experiences here as your chief and 25 years as a Larimer County law enforcement officer on top of a year and a half here, we have over 4 million people come through this town, and that’s where, it has been my experience, the major crimes that affect our town are coming from,” said Stewart last summer during the information meeting in Town Hall.
“It is through this lens that I’m coming to you for the community to consider if Flock might be a possible tool to help us with those issues,” said Stewart, who called the equipment a “force multiplier” without increasing staffing.
At this time, the Town has not authorized funds for a Flock system. An annual lease arrangement with Flock includes installation, maintenance, footage hosting, cellular service, software updates, and customer support. Last summer, the estimated cost to install four cameras was $28,700 for the first year, followed by $24,000 per year.
While many communities and businesses are installing Flock cameras, some are removing them due to public pushback about mass surveillance and potential misuse of data, including sharing data with other local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies, and breaches of stored data.
According to information on the Flock website, data is only stored by the company for 30 days or in adherence with local laws. Images and metadata are encrypted using a key management system and stored both on devices and in the Amazon Web Services cloud.
The company’s website claims its core cloud platform has never been hacked or experienced a breach of customer data. However, in a 43-minute video titled “We Hacked Flock Safety Cameras in under 30 Seconds,” Benn Jordan, a YouTuber with more than 1 million followers who describes himself as a musician and researcher, claims that Flock data is not hard to breach. The NBC affiliate 9News in Denver referenced Jordan’s video in a story the station produced on Dec. 23, 2025, “Douglas County’s Flock camera compromised as company leaves it exposed on internet.”
A resident in the Estes Valley who has worked at the YMCA reached out to the Estes Valley Voice to express concern that the data from the license plate recognition cameras would be used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to track immigrants who work at the Y and international travelers on vacation.
This week, the City of Denver decided not to renew its contract with Flock and will use Axon, which provides the Denver police with body cameras and data storage.
“The cameras are limited to basic access oversight and supporting incident response when needed on our private property,” said Nelson. “We remain committed to being transparent, protecting personal privacy, and fostering a safe, welcoming, and respectful environment for everyone who lives, works, and visits at the YMCA of the Rockies.”
Nelson said the YMCA is open to public questions or concerns. “We welcome open conversation and are always happy to provide clarity.”