Articles
What the Flock?
An index of reporting, court records, and public filings showing what happens beyond Flock's public-safety claims. These are the documented problems, mistakes, and abuses that can be easy to miss when the story comes only from the vendor or the agencies using the cameras.
101 articles · page 1 of 6 · RSS
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TODAY: US Senate hearing follows our investigations exposing police Flock abuse
atlantanewsfirst.com
The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism scheduled a hearing titled "Always Watching: Flock's Nationwide AI Surveillance Network," inviting the CEOs of Flock Safety, Axon, Motorola Solutions and Verkada. The hearing follows reporting by Brendan Keefe documenting at least 19 Georgia cases in one year of officers arrested or relieved of duty for personal use of ALPR data, and Flock's removal of officer names and plate numbers from network audit logs.
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Monroe Kills Flock Safety Contract, Shuts Down All 23 License-Plate Cameras
hoodline.com
Monroe's city council voted unanimously to end its Flock Safety contract, switching off all 23 license-plate-reading cameras. Aggregated reporting says more than 50 agencies or communities have canceled, suspended, or rejected Flock contracts since the start of 2026, and Flock now recommends seven-day data retention plus tools to flag abusive searches. Ohio has no statewide ALPR retention or audit rules.
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Local city council unanimously votes to end contract with Flock amid privacy concerns
dayton247now.com
Monroe, Ohio council members voted unanimously to terminate the city's Flock Safety contract and deactivate all 23 license plate reading cameras. The city had approved a two-year contract in 2024 at a cost of $149,950. Residents spoke on both sides, with some citing a digital dragnet and others arguing plates in public view carry no privacy expectation. Council members noted voters could restore the program later.
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County supervisors vote to take down all sheriff's Flock cameras
montereycountynow.com
Monterey County supervisors voted 3-2 to decline a proposed $1.7 million, 10-year Flock Safety contract and directed the Sheriff's Office to end access to 63 cameras and remove them within 60 days. Deputies had queried the system nearly 20,000 times in a year, with an estimated 500,000 queries by partner agencies. Officials cited earlier improper out-of-state access; the sheriff and district attorney defended the technology.
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Auburn voters to decide on automatic license plate reader ban next year
wgme.com
Auburn city councilors rejected immediate adoption of a citizen-led petition to ban automatic license plate readers, sending the measure to a special election within four to six months. The petition followed residents learning that police had installed Flock Safety cameras last summer; the units are currently switched off because of budget cuts. The city attorney said the ban's wording could block police access to other law enforcement databases.
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Flock Offers Employees Buyouts as Customers Flee
wired.com
Flock Safety opened a voluntary severance program for its roughly 1,500 employees, described internally as its most generous ever, as the company loses customers. One advocacy group counted 93 city and county governments ending ties with Flock in August alone, with about three times as many local governments dropping the company in 2026 as in the prior five years. Vandalism of cameras has also raised costs.
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@northbayvanguard on Instagram: "Over 400 people showed up to yesterday's Flock camera and ALPR meeting, hosted by the Santa Rosa Police Department."
instagram.com
According to the post description, over 400 people attended a Flock camera and ALPR meeting hosted by the Santa Rosa Police Department. Attendees were divided into small discussion groups to raise concerns rather than speaking at an open-mic forum. North Bay Vanguard says it interviewed attendees about their views on the cameras.
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Hutto City Council votes to end use of Flock Safety license plate readers
communityimpact.com
Hutto City Council voted unanimously on Sept. 18 to discontinue the police department's use of 10 Flock Safety license plate reader cameras, which were taken down before the vote. City staff cited concerns that partner agencies accessing the data are not bound by Hutto Police Department policies, along with questions about artificial intelligence developments. Nearby Pflugerville, Bastrop, Liberty Hill and Leander also recently ended Flock use.
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Flock Camera Hacked, Data on Thousands of Vehicles Retrieved
texasscorecard.com
A hacker group calling itself stegan0gram physically removed and reverse engineered a Flock camera, sharing methods and data with media. Wired reported the device logged 21 days of activity covering about 50,200 vehicles, and that its software detects people in images, though no facial recognition was found. Flock called the tampering illegal and pointed to its vulnerability disclosure process. Several Texas cities have recently cancelled or paused Flock contracts.
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Texas freezes installation of Flock cameras along state roads
kvia.com
The Texas Department of Transportation stopped issuing permits for Flock cameras and other license plate readers along state roads at Gov. Greg Abbott's direction, a pause that does not remove existing devices, including more than 900 operated by the Department of Public Safety. The move followed Abbott's funding freeze after a Tribune investigation into $30 million directed toward over 3,200 cameras. Florida ordered removals in August.
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Santa Rosa police chief faces packed house over controversial Flock cameras
yahoo.com
Santa Rosa Police Chief John Cregan held a forum attended by 400 to 500 people about the department's 143 Flock license plate reader cameras. Residents objected to contract terms granting Flock a perpetual license to the data and said outside agencies searched Santa Rosa data about 486,000 times a month versus roughly 5,000 local searches. Cregan said procedures had already been modified.
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City Council discusses affordable housing overhaul, introduces license plate reader ban
idsnews.com
The Bloomington City Council introduced Ordinance 2026-22, which would bar the city and its agents from acquiring or using automated license plate reader technology and from sharing surveillance camera data with third parties. The measure follows a March 2026 resolution on ALPR transparency, the city's April decision not to renew its Flock Safety contract after an investigation, and Monroe County's July termination of its own Flock contract. A vote is planned Oct. 14.
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Three More Cities End Flock Partnerships
seehafernews.com
Waukesha, Oconomowoc, and Racine each voted to end their contracts with Flock Safety's automated license plate reader program. Waukesha Police Chief Dan Thompson said the technology assists in solving crimes but that public trust and transparency matter as well. The report notes other departments in Wisconsin are reviewing privacy protections and vendor practices tied to automated camera systems.
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Sen. Wyden presses Flock CEO over allegations of surveillance platform abuse
ktvz.com
Senators Ron Wyden and Adam Schiff sent a letter to Flock Safety CEO Garrett Langley demanding answers about unauthorized use of the company's license plate reader network, including tracking of reproductive health travel and warrantless immigration searches. The letter cites a Washington Post analysis finding at least 50 officers charged or accused of misusing the system, and instructs Flock to preserve records.
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Hackers Stole Flock’s Camera Software, Revealing How the Company Tracks Cars and People
404media.co
Hackers removed a Flock camera, copied its storage, and recovered an on-device encryption key, sharing the files with 404 Media and WIRED. Analysis showed the software explicitly detects people as well as vehicles, plates, and bicycles, and logged about 50,200 vehicles and 1.6 million images over roughly 21 days. Reporters found no active face recognition, and the plate detector sometimes cropped bumper stickers and a flag patch.
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BREAKING: County Board votes to end Arlington’s use of Flock cameras
arlnow.com
The Arlington County Board voted to discontinue use of 41 county-leased Flock Safety devices, 26 license plate readers and 15 pan-tilt-zoom cameras, and to begin removing the equipment within 14 business days. Data not tied to active investigations will be deleted. The program, costing $106,250 plus a $93,000 annual fee, was never formally presented to the Board and drew resident-led opposition campaigns.
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Boston drivers’ data left unsecured during Flock pilot due to vendor ‘error,’ city officials say
boston.com
Boston's 2025 annual surveillance report states that three days into a 45-camera Flock pilot, police found the nationwide data-sharing feature had been enabled by the vendor in error despite a contract barring sharing. BPD ordered it disabled and says it will not use Flock again. The report logged 15 watchlist requests, 12 approved, and no internal misuse complaints. More than 20 Massachusetts communities have ended or suspended Flock contracts.
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El Paso City Council to vote Tuesday on removing Flock cameras
kfoxtv.com
El Paso City Council is set to vote on directing the city manager to remove all Flock license plate reader cameras from city-controlled property within 60 days, and on a second item requiring council approval for any future ALPR contracts. The city's 150 cameras were funded by the state Motor Vehicle Crime Prevention Authority, and the police department halted use after Gov. Greg Abbott ordered a funding pause amid misuse and privacy concerns.
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Flock Cameras Are The New Patriot Act
thefederalist.com
An opinion piece traces the funding and legal lineage of automated license plate readers to post-9/11 surveillance programs, noting DHS grant channels and fusion centers that finance local purchases. It cites a Norfolk lawsuit showing one driver logged 526 times in four months, a California class action over federal and ICE access through a described side door, and an August 2026 study finding vehicle theft fell about 11 percent with no detectable gain in recoveries.
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Liberty Hill City Council votes unanimously to end Flock Safety contract
cbsaustin.com
The Liberty Hill, Texas city council voted 7-0 to terminate its Flock Safety agreement, bar renewal in October, remove cameras under city jurisdiction and avoid future mass surveillance technology. Council members cited concerns over how license plate data is captured, stored and shared. Bastrop, Leander, Manor and Pflugerville have recently ended or moved to end Flock use, and Austin and San Marcos stopped in 2025.