Mayflower removes its Flock Safety cameras
The short version: Mayflower, Arkansas pulled its Flock Safety cameras after a suspension, proof that local pushback can actually get ALPR networks dismantled.
Our Take
Credit to KATV's Chris Gay for tracking this one through to the end: suspension, debate, and now outright removal. That arc matters because it's rare. Most cities that pause a Flock contract quietly renew it a few months later once the news cycle moves on. Mayflower actually followed through, which tells you the local pressure campaign had real teeth, not just a city council photo-op.
We don't know every detail of what tipped the vote, and we're not going to guess at numbers or quotes the segment didn't give us. But the pattern is familiar: a small city signs up for "just a few cameras to catch stolen cars," the public finds out the data is pooled into a nationwide network any cop in the country can query, and suddenly the cost-benefit math looks a lot worse. That's the conversation every city council should be forced to have before the cameras go up, not after.
If you want to know whether Flock or similar ALPR cameras are already watching your own street, check our map, and if you'd rather not wait for a suspension-then-removal saga in your own town, our take-action guide has the playbook Mayflower residents apparently used.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of KATVchannel7, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.