Cities Are Flocking to Cancel Flock Cameras
The short version: Oshkosh's city council approved a Flock contract, then killed it a day later after a company rep's comments raised red flags — a sign more towns are hitting pause.
Our Take
Credit to AI Privacy & Business Counsel for flagging this one: a city council votes yes on a Flock Safety deal, then reverses itself less than 24 hours later after a rep from the company apparently said something that spooked them. We don't know the exact words, but the speed of the flip tells you plenty. When elected officials move that fast to undo a surveillance contract, it usually means someone finally asked the right question in the room — and didn't like the answer.
This is the pattern we keep seeing across the country. Councils get a slick pitch about 'solving crime' and rubber-stamp a five- or six-figure ALPR contract without reading the fine print on data sharing, retention, or who else gets access to the plate reads once they're in Flock's national network. Oshkosh's about-face suggests that even a little scrutiny — in this case, apparently prompted by the vendor itself — can unravel the sales pitch fast.
If you live somewhere considering a Flock contract, don't wait for a company rep to accidentally talk your council out of it. Check our camera map to see what's already been deployed near you, and use our take-action guide to show up at the meeting before the vote, not after.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of AI Privacy & Business Counsel, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.