4 Investigates: Why this New Mexico sheriff is firing Flock
The short version: A New Mexico sheriff is dropping Flock Safety's ALPR network, and KOB 4 Albuquerque's report on his reasoning is worth every county official's attention.
Our Take
When a sitting sheriff decides to walk away from Flock Safety, that's news — not because it's rare (it isn't, departments have quietly cut ties before), but because it means someone with badge-level access to these cameras looked under the hood and didn't like what he saw. Credit to KOB 4 Albuquerque for getting Sheriff Allen on record explaining his decision instead of letting another county renew its contract on autopilot.
Most Flock deployments happen with zero public debate: a company sales pitch, a quiet vote, cameras go up. It takes an insider walking back the technology to force a real conversation about cost, effectiveness, and what happens to the millions of plate scans sitting in a private company's database. If a sheriff who had hands-on experience with the system is having second thoughts, that's a data point every city council and county commission weighing a Flock contract should be asking about before they sign, not after.
We'd like to see more law enforcement leaders explain their reasoning in public the way this one did. Check our camera map to see what's already watching your plates, and if your local government is debating a Flock contract, our take-action page has tools to help you show up and ask the hard questions before the cameras go up.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of KOB 4 Albuquerque, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.