El Cerrito to begin removing Flock cameras
The short version: A YouTube update from RickieBobbieNO26 reports El Cerrito plans to start removing its Flock Safety cameras, a rare reversal worth watching closely.
Our Take
Credit to RickieBobbieNO26 for flagging this one: El Cerrito pulling Flock cameras down, if it holds, would be a genuine rarity in this fight. Most ALPR stories we cover are about expansion — another city council rubber-stamping a "free trial," another neighborhood waking up to a camera on a pole it never voted on. A city actually reversing course is news precisely because it almost never happens once Flock's hooks are in.
We don't have the underlying contract details or council vote here, so we're not going to speculate on exactly why El Cerrito is backing out — budget pressure, public pushback, data-sharing concerns, or something else entirely could all be in play. What matters is the signal: these systems are not as permanent or inevitable as the industry likes to present them. Local pressure campaigns, open records requests, and plain old public scrutiny can move a city council, even after cameras are already bolted to the poles.
If you're in El Cerrito or anywhere nearby, this is the moment to show up and keep the pressure on — reversals can stall or quietly get walked back if nobody's watching. Check our camera map to see what's actually deployed near you, and hit take-action for tools to push your own city toward the exit.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of RickieBobbieNO26, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.