Lynchburg ends Flock contract, debate continues over when to remove cameras
The short version: Lynchburg's council voted to kill its Flock contract, but a vote on paper doesn't mean the cameras come down — that fight is just starting.
Our Take
Credit to WSET ABC 13 for following this past the vote itself, because that's where these stories usually get buried. A council deciding to end a Flock Safety contract is a genuine win for residents who pushed back on being tracked block by block, but anyone who's watched this play out in other towns knows the hardware doesn't vanish the moment a contract is terminated. Cameras can linger for weeks or months while officials haggle over removal timelines, data retention, and who eats the cost of taking the poles down.
That gap between "we ended the contract" and "the cameras are actually gone" is exactly where accountability goes to die. Footage can still be pulled, data-sharing agreements with other agencies don't automatically stop, and the public has basically no way to verify any of it is happening on schedule. Lynchburg residents should be asking their council for a hard removal date in writing, not a vague promise.
This is also a reminder that voting out a contract is a local victory that has to be won again and again in every city that signed one. If you want to see whether ALPRs are watching your own neighborhood, check our camera map, and if your town is still under contract, our take-action page has the tools to push your council toward the same ending Lynchburg just got.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of WSET ABC 13, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.