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."
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 Cambridge MA, Flagstaff AZ, and others.
Unauthorized access. Mountain View and Palo Alto discovered that Flock had configured their cameras for nationwide sharing without the city's knowledge. 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 Oshkosh rescinded its contract unanimously after the police chief discovered Flock's CISO had falsely denied the system creates heat maps of individual movement patterns.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.
Not a one-sided story
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." The research question is not whether to ban the technology outright, but whether the current deployment model (mass capture, long retention, national sharing, minimal verification) produces net public safety gains that outweigh documented civil-liberties costs.
The community pushback is the democratic mechanism for answering that question jurisdiction by jurisdiction. The trend is accelerating.
Read the incident registry - Read the vendor context - Read the governance framework