'Community's best interest': Kentucky city ends use of Flock cameras after complaints
The short version: Fort Mitchell, Kentucky pulled the plug on its Flock Safety contract after residents pushed back on privacy and surveillance concerns, proving public pressure works.
Our Take
Score one for the people who actually live under these cameras. As Local 12 (WKRC) reports, Fort Mitchell's City Council voted to end its Flock Safety contract after residents raised the alarm about privacy and surveillance creep. No lawsuit, no federal mandate — just neighbors showing up, asking hard questions, and a council willing to listen instead of rubber-stamping a renewal.
This is the pattern we keep seeing: cities adopt ALPR networks with promises of solving car break-ins or finding stolen vehicles, then residents start asking who else can access the data, how long it's stored, and whether a grid of always-on cameras logging every car's movements is really 'for the community's best interest.' Fort Mitchell's reversal shows that these contracts aren't permanent fixtures — they're political decisions that can be undone when enough people push back.
Every town considering Flock cameras should be having this same conversation before the contract gets signed, not after. Check our camera map to see what's already watching your streets, and hit up our take-action page if you want a playbook for getting your own city council to reconsider.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of LOCAL 12, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.