Govind TekaleFlock Safety has installed more than 120,000 license plate reader cameras across 49 states. The cameras scan every car that passes, logging the plate, location and time in a shared database that more than 7,000 law enforcement agencies can search.
That reach has triggered a backlash. Since the start of 2026, more than 50 cities and towns have canceled, suspended, rejected or deactivated Flock contracts. Fort Collins, Colorado, removed all 15 of its cameras after its city council voted to cancel the contract. Eugene, Oregon, Madison, Wisconsin, and Knoxville, Tennessee, have also dropped or deactivated their systems. Syracuse, New York, ended its Flock contract and switched to a different vendor, Axon, though critics say that just moves the surveillance instead of ending it.
Some residents have gone further than city votes. In Troy, New York, someone cut down cameras with an electric saw. In Oakland, California, people threw paint over the lenses. In Pocatello, Idaho, a truck rammed a camera pole and knocked it to the ground. In Toledo, Ohio, several cameras were damaged over back-to-back weekends in August.
Police misuse has added to the anger. A Washington Post investigation found at least 69 police officials nationwide have been charged, accused, or convicted of misusing Flock’s system. In roughly half of those cases, officers used the cameras to track wives, girlfriends, ex-partners, or people they wanted to meet. Flock CEO Garrett Langley apologized publicly, saying, “I’m sorry that the system has failed you.”
The cameras have also caused dangerous errors. In Brookfield, Wisconsin, a woman named Amber Newell was pulled over at gunpoint on August 6 after a Flock camera flagged her car as connected to a Milwaukee homicide case. Police had failed to remove an old alert from the system after the case was resolved. It was the second time that week she had been stopped at gunpoint over the same mistake. Milwaukee police called it a personnel error, not a flaw in Flock’s technology.
Facing pressure from the investigation and the wave of cancellations, Flock announced changes in August 2026. It now recommends police departments keep camera data for seven days instead of 30. Officers must attach a case number to every search. A new audit tool flags unusual search activity and can automatically suspend officers who misuse the system.
Civil liberties groups say the changes fall short. The ACLU wants an even shorter retention window of 48 hours and says similar safeguards have failed to stop misuse in the past.
The pushback shows no sign of slowing. Cities keep dropping contracts, and lawmakers in several states are pushing bills to limit how police can use license plate data. For now, Flock’s cameras remain active in thousands of communities, even as trust in the system keeps slipping.
