Connecticut reporting found Flock ALPR cameras operating at some Lowe’s and Home Depot locations, with police access arrangements in multiple towns. The story matters because private ALPR deployments can create surveillance infrastructure outside public-records rules that normally apply to government agencies.
Oakland County approved a nine-month Flock drone pilot for sheriff’s office response despite public opposition and privacy concerns. Follow-up reporting said residents continued raising questions after the vote, and the pilot could cost millions if continued beyond the free trial period.
Kent State University suspended its Flock Safety license plate recognition pilot after privacy and community concerns. Local reporting said the university reversed course after public outcry over cameras installed on campus.
Berkeley narrowly approved a short extension for its existing ALPR contract, but rejected a proposed expansion that would have added drones, additional fixed cameras, and integrated investigative software.
San Diego’s Privacy Advisory Board sought more oversight after reporting revealed that police quietly acquired Flock Nova without review by the board or City Council. Officials said an exemption applied, but board members and privacy advocates argued the episode exposed a major transparency gap.
Appleton Mayor Jake Woodford announced the city would stop using Flock license plate recognition cameras, citing eroded trust and concerns about how the broader system could be misused by agencies outside Appleton’s control.
El Cerrito’s council voted not to renew its Flock contract, with local reporting saying the cameras would go dark on June 7. The rejected renewal would have continued a large local ALPR network at significant cost.
Renton’s City Council voted to pause the city’s use of Flock cameras again after privacy, immigration, and state-law concerns. The renewed pause followed earlier changes made in response to Washington’s new ALPR law.
Stop LAPD Spying Coalition sued Los Angeles, alleging LAPD illegally withheld records about a years-long partnership with Flock Safety after a Public Records Act request sought contracts, agreements, and memoranda of understanding.
Project Censored spotlighted earlier reporting by The 74 and The Guardian showing law enforcement searches of school security-camera systems, including Flock-based license plate readers, to assist immigration enforcement investigations.
Students and faculty at Emory University organized against campus Flock license plate readers, with local reporting describing a petition with almost 1,000 signatures and demands that the university end its relationship with Flock Safety.
After Oakland County approved a Flock drone pilot, a county commissioner pushed for a 12-month moratorium on new surveillance technology. The proposal followed public criticism and concern that drone and camera systems were being adopted faster than oversight rules.
The Institute for Justice reported at least 14 cases in recent years where police allegedly used license plate reader systems to stalk or track romantic interests, including current partners, former partners, or strangers.
Washington’s new law places statewide restrictions on ALPR use, sharing, and retention. Municipal guidance explains that SB 6002 limits disclosure and requires ALPR use to fit authorized purposes; Flock said it would apply a 21-day retention schedule statewide.
Oshkosh reversed course less than 24 hours after approving a Flock renewal. Reporting said the council rescinded the agreement after police said Flock made false statements about heat maps and tracking capabilities.
The Iowa House approved legislation regulating automated license plate readers. Reporting said the bill would require cities and counties to authorize plate readers through local ordinances before deployment and would add limits on retention, sharing, and facial recognition use.
Tompkins County voted to terminate its Flock Safety contract, with local reporting saying the contract would be ended by the end of May. The decision followed Ithaca’s earlier move to cut ties with Flock.
Bloomington announced that its contract for Flock license plate reader services expired March 5, 2026, and that the city would transition away from Flock after months of evaluation.
Sturgeon Bay’s pending Flock renewal failed after public pushback, and later reporting said the cameras were no longer in use while the company prepared to remove them.
Atlanta Civic Circle reported that a coalition of student and faculty groups delivered a petition with almost 1,000 signatures demanding that Emory remove Flock license plate cameras from campus, citing threats to immigrants and activists.
Urbandale amended its Flock contract to require at least 10 days’ notice before company disclosure of city ALPR data in response to subpoenas or court orders, giving the city time to contest requests.
The Guardian reported on a proposal in Toronto’s Rosedale neighborhood to create a private AI-powered ‘virtual gated community’ using Flock cameras and vehicle lists, sparking debate under Canadian privacy law.
A follow-up investigation found far broader access to Tiburon and Belvedere ALPR logs than previously understood, including thousands of potentially illegal searches by California agencies during a six-month period.
Pasadena residents urged officials to reconsider the city’s use of Flock ALPR cameras, raising concerns about privacy, data security, equity, and oversight ahead of a Public Safety Committee discussion.
Denver decommissioned and removed all 110 Flock license plate reader cameras after its contract expired, then moved toward a smaller replacement system with another vendor.
Richmond extended its Flock contract through 2026 while cameras reportedly remained disabled after concerns involving federal access and Flock’s National Lookup feature.
South Pasadena voted not to renew its Flock contract, ending use of 14 cameras after privacy and data-sharing concerns. Local reporting said the cameras would be decommissioned and removed.
Business Insider investigated Flock camera misreads and false-positive police encounters, including Brandon Upchurch’s case, in which a plate misread contributed to a wrongful stop, jail time, and injuries from a police dog.
Amazon’s Ring ended a planned partnership/integration with Flock Safety after backlash over surveillance concerns. Reports said the integration had not gone live and no Ring user videos had been shared through it.
The 74 and The Guardian reported that local police repeatedly searched school security cameras, including Flock-based license plate readers, to assist federal immigration agents. The audit logs came from Texas school districts using Flock systems.
Springfield announced that Flock Safety had begun removing ALPR cameras and that the units were expected to be down by the end of the week. The removal followed the police department’s earlier decision to discontinue Flock use.
Bend turned off its Flock ALPR cameras and announced it would not renew the contract when it expired. Reporting said the four cameras would be uninstalled amid security and privacy concerns.
San Marcos City Council voted in December 2025 not to renew the city’s Flock contract. The city later posted that all city-contracted Flock cameras had been deactivated and removed as of February 1, 2026.
Lane County Sheriff’s Office suspended its contract with Flock Safety to install 22 license plate recognition cameras after Eugene and Springfield announced they were ending use of the technology.
Ferndale announced that it ended its partnership with Flock Safety after community feedback and concerns. The city said it would seek a different license plate reader provider.
Woodburn suspended its Flock Safety camera system for at least 60 days after residents raised concerns about security, data use, and possible federal immigration-enforcement access.
Oregon adopted a new law regulating police use of license plate readers and allowing people to sue technology vendors that violate the law’s privacy protections for sensitive data.
Houston Chronicle reporting said Texas DPS found Flock violated state law by operating without a required license and fined the company. The reporting also described broader concerns about Flock’s licensing history in Texas.
Bridgeport’s proposed Flock drone-as-first-responder contract was rejected by council committees in January after residents and councilmembers raised concerns about transparency, surveillance, and data privacy. Recent reporting says the broader drone debate is still alive because state funding was extended, but the original Flock proposal remains a major example of public opposition stopping a connected surveillance expansion before launch.
Three San José residents sued the city, arguing that San José’s Flock ALPR network amounts to unconstitutional mass surveillance. The complaint says the city grew from an initial four-camera pilot to roughly 474–475 cameras and that police can search drivers’ location history without a warrant or individualized suspicion.
The Dane County Board voted to remove $80,000 in funding for the Sheriff’s Office Flock ALPR subscription and prohibit further spending on the system. The county said the existing subscription runs through May 31, 2026, and local reporting said officials expected the cameras to be gone after that date.
Sierra Vista officials said the city’s Flock license plate reader contract was officially terminated on April 2, 2026. The termination followed a February council work session where council directed staff to end the contract and provide the required notice.
The April 13 council vote was not just a fight over abstract privacy rules. It came after an access controversy in which Flock acknowledged unauthorized access to Dunwoody-connected live video during a demonstration, while residents argued that the episode undercut earlier promises that Flock would not use city data outside authorized purposes. Even after that broader breach fight became a major part of the public backlash, the council still approved a rewritten agreement that preserved the relationship with Flock rather than ending it.
East Palo Alto’s council pulled a scheduled item that would have revisited whether the city should end its Flock contract early, prompting sharp criticism from residents and two councilmembers. The city’s use of the cameras remains active, but the fight over whether to keep them has intensified.
Troy police temporarily shut off Flock’s national search feature while officials gathered public feedback, and the council tabled a contract-renewal request. In May, local reporting described a proposed ordinance that would cut Flock ALPR data retention to 48 hours, restrict sharing and sale of the data, require annual reporting, and increase transparency around camera locations.
Redmond announced that all 24 Flock cameras remain suspended and are not collecting data while the city continues reviewing the contract and broader policy questions. The city said the suspension followed council action in November 2025.
Oxnard Police suspended operation of its fixed Flock cameras after an internal audit found that a vendor-enabled nationwide query had allowed outside-of-California and federal agencies to query Oxnard data without the city’s knowledge or approval. The department said the cameras will remain offline until it is confident the data is secure.
Ithaca’s Common Council voted to end the city’s contract with Flock Safety after public backlash and sustained concerns about surveillance, privacy, and data sharing. Local reporting described Ithaca as one of the latest cities to cut ties with the company.
Mountain View’s City Council voted unanimously on February 24 to terminate the city’s contract with Flock Safety. The city said its 30 ALPR cameras had already been turned off since February 2 after an internal audit found that federal and state agencies had accessed Mountain View data in violation of approved city policies.
South Tucson’s City Council voted to immediately terminate its contract with Flock Safety after privacy and immigration-enforcement concerns drew sustained community opposition. Local reporting said the city had a 10-camera system under a two-year agreement.
Coralville removed its Flock cameras one day after the city council voted to end the contract. Local coverage tied the decision to a dispute over Iowa law after the city had originally approved the cameras with a policy that they would not be used to help enforce immigration law.
Flagstaff announced it had received confirmation that all Flock Safety cameras covered by the city’s contract had been physically removed. The city said the council had voted in December 2025 to terminate the contract and that the cameras were immediately turned off and stopped collecting data after that vote.
Los Altos Hills posted that at its January 15 council meeting, the Town Council voted to terminate the contract with Flock and that all cameras would go offline immediately while staff arranged for them to be taken down.
Santa Cruz’s City Council voted 6-1 to terminate its contract with Flock Safety after public opposition, privacy complaints, and concern that outside agencies had searched local data on behalf of federal authorities.
Staunton announced that its Flock contract was officially terminated as of January 8, 2026. The city said police had initiated the termination process in December 2025 and that, at the time of the announcement, Flock had not yet scheduled removal of the readers.
Cambridge said it had already deactivated and removed 16 Flock cameras in late October 2025, then learned that two cameras were installed later without the city’s awareness following an outstanding work order that should have been canceled. The city said that breach of trust led it to terminate the contract, and those two cameras were also removed.
Eugene Police said they had ended the city’s contract with Flock Safety effective immediately after identifying vulnerabilities and limitations that raised concerns about data security, privacy safeguards, and the system’s ability to meet community expectations.
Hillsborough said the town decided to terminate its contract for 10 license plate reader cameras because of data-privacy concerns. The town later updated the notice to confirm that all contracted Flock cameras had been removed as of December 3, 2025.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta sued El Cajon over allegations that the city illegally shared ALPR data with federal and out-of-state agencies in violation of state law. In January 2026, Bonta said he had filed a motion continuing the case, and that El Cajon had shared ALPR data with over 100 out-of-state law enforcement agencies.
A new class action filed by Gibbs Mura and co-counsel alleges that Flock Safety unlawfully shared millions of Californians’ movements with out-of-state and federal law-enforcement agencies. Reporting said the suit alleges out-of-state agencies searched San Francisco data more than 1.6 million times in seven months.
In one of the highest-profile constitutional challenges to Flock cameras, a federal judge ruled for Norfolk and against the plaintiffs who argued the city’s Flock system amounted to warrantless dragnet surveillance. Reporting on the decision noted that the plaintiffs planned to appeal after the court held the system was not yet capable of tracking the whole of a person’s movements.