Flock, maker of controversial license plate readers, starts to give campaign cash to local politicians

Flock Safety license plate reading cameras have spread throughout the Chicago area, stirring controversy about surveillance and civil liberties while helping snare crooks.

The company’s money has also begun to spread to local politics, according to election records.

In Cicero, where Flock has a number of cameras monitoring traffic, the Atlanta company has given several campaign contributions to Town President Larry Dominick, who oversees public safety in the near west suburb.

The first contribution to the Cicero Voters Alliance (The Larry Dominick Team) was for $1,000, made in 2021, according to Illinois State Board of Elections records.

In 2022 another $1,000 arrived from Flock, while in 2024 the company gave $2,000.

In 2025, the year Dominick successfully ran for reelection, Flock gave him another $2,000.

The community now has 31 Flock cameras, and first engaged the company in or about 2020, a town spokesman said.

“The Town of Cicero is proud of the hundreds of crimes solved with the help of Flock cameras and our officers would be utilizing them to help keep the community safe with or without the $6,000 they’ve contributed to President Dominick over the last six years,” the spokesman said.

Dominick appears to be the only local municipal leader to have received Flock campaign cash so far. But the company did donate to two candidates for sheriff in the collar counties.

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere / Sun-Times

Dan Jungles, who ran unsuccessfully in this spring’s Democratic primary for Will County sheriff, accepted a $500 campaign donation from Flock in 2024.

He announced his intention to run for the office in 2023, according to published accounts.

The south suburban department began using Flock in 2023 and has 25 “active” Flock license plate readers, a spokeswoman said. Jungles, who has served as Will County's undersheriff, didn't respond to requests for comment.

Meantime, Lake County Sheriff John Idleburg’s campaign fund accepted $1,000 from Flock in 2025, records show.

In 2024, the Lake County Board gave authorization for the purchase of 15 Flock cameras for the north suburban police agency.

At the time, Idleburg touted the cameras in a press release, saying: “Flock Safety cameras provide a valuable tool for law enforcement agencies to locate missing or endangered persons, stolen vehicles and suspects wanted for violent crimes.”

Three of the devices have since been installed, a sheriff’s spokesman said.

Idleburg’s campaign released a statement this week about the campaign contribution saying: "Representatives from Flock Safety reached out and registered to participate in my annual campaign golf outing in 2025. The event was open to anyone interested in participating, and their representatives attended and sponsored a hole."

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“Campaign contributions have no bearing on the decisions I make in my official capacity."

The use of Flock cameras became an issue in his campaign against Republican Roman Buchberger, a Zion resident who has raised concerns amid the campaign about the potential for abuses with the technology.

Idleburg handily won reelection on Tuesday against Buchberger.

Flock officials didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Records show Flock employs two firms to lobby on its behalf in Illinois, including Cozen O’Connor Public Strategies, which is affiliated with a Philadelphia law firm and appears to have been hired by Flock in early 2024.

Since then, the company has given around $485,000 in campaign money to state and local candidates and political causes, according to elections board records that show employees or consultants of Cozen O’Connor gave an additional $14,000 during the same time frame.

Cozen O’Connor also represents several dozen other clients in Illinois, from the rideshare company Lyft to Planned Parenthood of Illinois and Catholic Charities, Starbucks and the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago, state records show.

National Strategies LLC, which is based in Washington, D.C., and serves as another Flock lobbying firm in Illinois, didn’t report any donations to state or local campaign accounts, though members of the business have donated to numerous federal campaigns.

As the Chicago Sun-Times has reported, Flock has used the bipartisan firm Mercury Public Affairs for federal lobbying, and members of the firm have given campaign money to — and participated in a campaign fundraiser for — Juliana Stratton in her run for U.S. Senate.

Flock CEO Garrett Langley gave a $1,000 contribution in 2024 to a campaign fund benefiting U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) Ossoff’s successful reelection effort was being closely watched in part because he was a lone Senate Democrat in Tuesday’s general election trying for another term in a state that President Donald Trump, a Republican, carried in 2024.