New Details in Crash That Killed Milligan Cyclists, TN City Won't Renew Flock Contract | The Seven
The short version: Kingston, Tennessee decided not to renew its Flock Safety contract, a small but telling sign that local pushback on ALPR spending and oversight is spreading.
Our Take
Buried in WATE's roundup segment is a line that matters more than its 45 seconds of airtime suggests: Kingston, TN is letting its Flock Safety contract lapse. We don't have the full reasoning yet, and WATE's reporters (credit to them for even flagging it amid crash and crime coverage) didn't dig deep into why. But every city that walks away from these contracts is a data point in a bigger story — the novelty of 'free crime-fighting cameras' is wearing off, and officials are starting to ask harder questions about cost, effectiveness, and what happens to the data these networks quietly vacuum up.
That's the pattern we track at DeFlock USA. Flock's pitch to small and mid-size departments is always the same: low upfront cost, flashy clearance stats, 'it's just plates, not people.' What doesn't get mentioned in the sales pitch is the audit trail problem — who's searching the database, for what, and whether out-of-state agencies or even ICE can tap into a local network through Flock's national lookup features. Non-renewals like Kingston's don't happen in a vacuum; they usually follow budget scrutiny or community pressure once residents realize a private company is logging their daily movements on a rolling basis.
If you want to see whether a Flock reader is already clocking your plate on your commute, check our camera map, and if your town council hasn't had this conversation yet, there's no better time to start it — see our take-action page for how.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of WATE 6 On Your Side, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.