Cumberland Flock Contract Under Fire After False-Arrest Lawsuit

9 August 2026. [AI first draft. Verify every fact against the source before publishing.]

The Town of Cumberland approved a Flock Safety automated license plate reader contract in 2024 under Resolution R-24-77, authorizing the mayor to execute an agreement at an initial cost not to exceed $40,000, with annual fees thereafter. In April 2025, Cumberland Police arrested Eva Pizzarelli, an East Providence resident, based on an image captured by a Flock camera. Pizzarelli filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in June 2025 in U.S. District Court in Providence alleging false imprisonment and civil rights violations; the charges against her were dropped. The ACLU of Rhode Island sent a letter to the Town Council in August 2026 calling for contract cancellation, arguing that the cameras' driver-identification capability was not disclosed to residents during the 2024 approval process.

Cumberland's contract history reflects the national adoption trend for these systems. In August 2024, Craig Cerwonka, an ACLU Rhode Island board member and Cumberland resident, testified before the Town Council's ordinance subcommittee about potential risks including immigration data requests, evidence destruction, and surveillance abuses documented in other jurisdictions. Police Chief Matthew Benson indicated the department would model policies after Cranston Police Department's general order and stated that Flock data purges after 30 days by default. The council approved the contract despite these concerns. Since the Pizzarelli lawsuit, three other Rhode Island municipalities canceled their Flock contracts: South Kingstown on July 27, Narragansett on August 3, and Glocester on August 6, 2026.

The contract matters for public records because Rhode Island has no state law governing the 295 Flock cameras scanning over 2.8 million vehicles monthly, leaving each police department to write its own data policies. Under this framework, residents can request records about their own vehicle data and examine town council meeting minutes documenting what officials knew before approving surveillance contracts. Residents in any jurisdiction should review their own town council agendas for renewal dates or new camera proposals and request copies of police department data-retention policies governing license plate readers.

Read the original reporting: Uprise RI.