Community Pushback
At least 30 localities have canceled, suspended, or declined to renew Flock contracts since January 2025 — with documentation of each decision.
The deployment of networked ALPR systems is not uncontested. Since January 2025, a growing movement of city councils, police chiefs, and community organizations have canceled, suspended, or declined to renew Flock Safety contracts. NPR reported in February 2026 that at least 30 localities had taken such action, "with much of the activity happening in just the last three months." Use the campaign action ladder to press for termination and camera removal.
Documented cases
Patterns in the pushback
The cancellations cluster around three triggers:
Immigration surveillance. As federal immigration enforcement escalated in 2025, communities discovered that local ALPR data was accessible to ICE and Border Patrol through the national network — even in sanctuary states. This drove cancellations in Flagstaff AZ, Eugene OR, and others. Cambridge MA terminated for a different reason — Flock technicians reinstalled two cameras without the City's awareness, which the City called a material breach (FW-027).
Unauthorized access. Mountain View discovered that a camera had been set to nationwide sharing by Flock without the city's knowledge (FW-019); Palo Alto's records showed hundreds of out-of-state and federal agencies had searched its data since 2023, without a public account of who configured that access (FW-020). The Mountain View police chief suspended all cameras, stating he no longer had confidence in the system.
Vendor deception. Oshkosh rescinded its contract unanimously after the police chief discovered Flock's CISO had falsely denied the system creates heat maps of individual movement patterns. The ACLU has documented similar misrepresentations to other cities.
Advocacy infrastructure
Two national campaigns coordinate local opposition:
- ACLU "Get the Flock Out" provides a local advocacy toolkit and model legislation. The ACLU released model ALPR legislation in February 2026 with strict guidelines for retention, sharing, and warrant requirements.
- Fight for the Future "FLOCK Out" provides template letters for HOAs and city councils, tracks cancellation campaigns, and organizes community mobilization.
The ACLU of Georgia reports that "nearly 60 local governments across the country have canceled or declined to renew contracts with Flock Safety" as of 2026.
The campaign conclusion
Some cities that debated Flock contracts decided to keep them, citing public safety benefits, stolen-vehicle recovery, and investigative leads. The Fraternal Order of Police has called ALPRs "extraordinarily important in cases where there is an immediate threat to life or safety." Flockwatch's position is nevertheless direct: end routine police use of networked ALPRs. A claimed investigative benefit does not justify continuous suspicionless collection and network-wide access. Read the objections and evidence-grounded responses.
Local termination is one rung of the campaign. State bans are needed to prevent the same warrantless access from moving across jurisdictional lines.
Read the incident registry - Read the vendor context - Read the governance framework