Flock Safety: At Least 10 US Governments Move to Drop Cameras
At least 10 U.S. local governments and police departments have moved since summer to curb or end their use of Flock Safety surveillance technology. The
At least 10 U.S. local governments and police departments have moved since summer to curb or end their use of Flock Safety surveillance technology. The decisions reflect growing concern about mass surveillance and personal data privacy as the company’s cameras spread across the country.
In the past three months, Monroe, Ohio; Newburgh, New York; Richmond, Virginia; Hopkinton and New Bedford, Massachusetts; and Lansing, Michigan, moved to end contracts with Flock. Police departments in East Bridgewater and Grafton, Massachusetts, also announced plans to stop using the technology. Other local governments have taken steps to restrict its use.
What the cameras collect
Flock, founded in 2017, sells tools that include automated license-plate readers, drones and microphone-based devices designed to detect gunshots and other sounds. The company says its technology can help investigators solve crimes, including finding missing people and stolen vehicles.
More than 100,000 Flock cameras are in use nationwide. That scale has sharpened concerns over how surveillance systems gather and use information, and whether their reach could extend beyond specific investigations. The local decisions are part of a wider backlash against rapid adoption of technologies such as facial recognition and artificial intelligence.
For residents, the dispute is about a practical trade-off: police may use camera data to pursue leads, while communities weigh the privacy implications of widespread monitoring. The towns’ moves differ, ranging from restricting use to ending contracts.
A wider debate over technology
Pushback against surveillance cameras is unfolding alongside local opposition to other technology infrastructure. Communities across the United States have also voted for limits or moratoriums on new data centers, amid concerns about the effects of large facilities. Those disputes, like the debate over Flock, put local governments at the center of decisions about how technology is deployed.
The camera decisions leave a key question for other municipalities: whether they will keep contracts, impose tighter rules or follow communities seeking to end use. Flock’s network now includes more than 100,000 cameras nationwide.
