A federal judge in Norfolk on Thursday released the locations of more than 600 Flock Safety surveillance cameras in Hampton Roads — the first time such a compilation has been made public. Local cities and counties have in recent years rejected requests from the media and privacy activists for lists of Flock camera locations — often citing an exemption under Virginia open records law for “critical infrastructure information.” But U.S. Magistrate Judge Lawrence R. Leonard ordered a regional camera location list unsealed as part of a pending federal lawsuit against the city of Norfolk. The lawsuit surrounds the systems that read license plates and log other information about passing vehicles.

Some University faculty have expressed skepticism about the intentions behind Freedom of Information Act requests they have received in recent years from Virginia residents and organizations. While acknowledging the right of individuals and organizations to file FOIA requests to obtain public records — such as course syllabi or emails — some faculty also claim that the law has been weaponized and created a sense of curriculum policing at the University….As of Nov. 5, the University has received 849 FOIA requests in 2025 according to University spokesperson Bethanie Glover. The number of annual FOIA requests has more than doubled since 2021 — the University received 786 requests in 2024, 633 in 2023, 472 in 2022 and only 404 in 2021.