Cities cancel Flock, then Axon bolts readers to the same poles
The short version: Canceling a Flock contract means nothing if Axon or another vendor just bolts new plate readers onto the same poles days later.
Our Take
Verified Privacy VPN's video lands on something we've been saying since day one: a city council vote to "cancel Flock" is a press release, not a policy. If there's no ordinance banning ALPR surveillance outright, kicking out one vendor just opens a bidding war for whoever replaces them — and Axon, with its law enforcement relationships and bottomless budget, is more than happy to step in. The cameras never actually come down. Only the logo on the housing changes.
This is the shell game that makes ALPR fights so exhausting to win: residents think they've achieved something because they watched a vote happen, then the surveillance infrastructure quietly reappears under a different brand with the same data-sharing problems, the same lack of judicial oversight, and often the same install crew using the same utility poles. Local victories that don't come with hard legal language banning the *category* of technology — not just one company's product — are temporary at best.
If your town is celebrating a Flock cancellation, don't stop watching those poles. Check our camera map to see what's actually installed near you, and if you want language that closes the loophole this video is pointing at, head to take action for resources on writing bans that name the surveillance, not just the vendor.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of Verified Privacy VPN (vp.net), published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.