LAPD Says We Will Pass On Flock Cameras

Our Take

Credit to The Lab Tech Show for flagging a story that deserves more attention than it's getting: the LAPD, by its own account, is walking away from 138 Flock Safety cameras because it can't get comfortable with who owns the license plate data once it's captured. That's not a minor contract dispute — it's the core question every city council should be asking before they sign with Flock in the first place. If the company that builds the camera also controls the data pipeline, retention rules, and sharing agreements, the department using the system is effectively a tenant in someone else's surveillance architecture.

Swapping Flock for Axon or Motorola doesn't make the underlying problem disappear. Those are still private vendors running mass license plate capture on public streets, and the data-sharing, retention, and audit questions don't vanish just because the logo on the pole changes. What this moment does prove is that 'who owns the data' is a real lever — and when departments get pushed on it, even a three-year relationship can fall apart. That's useful leverage for residents and city councils anywhere Flock or a competitor is trying to get a contract renewed quietly.

If you want to know whether ALPR cameras — Flock or otherwise — are already watching your block, check our camera map, and if you'd rather your city have this fight in public before signing anything, our take-action page has the tools to push for it.