South Kingstown to stop using automated license plate readers
The short version: South Kingstown's council pulled the plug on Flock Safety after residents pushed back, proving local pressure can actually roll back ALPR surveillance.
Our Take
Credit to WPRI for covering this one, because it's the story we don't get to write often enough: a town council actually voting to shut down an automated license plate reader program instead of expanding it. South Kingstown residents showed up, raised hard questions about why a quiet Rhode Island town needed a network of cameras logging every car that passes through, and the council listened. That's the system working the way it's supposed to.
What makes this notable is how rare it is. Most Flock Safety rollouts happen with little fanfare — a line item in a budget, a quiet vote, maybe a press release about "fighting crime" — and by the time residents realize their daily movements are being logged and stored in a searchable database, the contract's already signed. South Kingstown shows that pushback works when people actually find out what's being installed down the street and say something about it before it's too late, and that pulling out is possible even after the cameras go up.
If you want to know whether your own town has Flock cameras or similar ALPR systems watching the roads, check our map. And if you'd rather not wait for a surprise contract renewal to find out, our take-action page has concrete steps for raising this with your local council before the cameras go up, not after.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of WPRI, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.