City council votes down flock cameras in Menominee County

Our Take

Credit to Upper Michigan's Source (TV6 & FOX UP) for catching what should be a bigger story than a routine council vote: a Flock camera reportedly went live in Menominee County before the council ever approved the program. That's not a paperwork slip — it's a preview of how these deployments actually work in towns across the country, where vendors and police departments treat council approval as a formality to be worked around rather than a real check on power.

The vote itself is good news. A local government looked at the pitch, asked questions, and said no. That's the system functioning as intended, and it's proof that public pushback still moves the needle, even against a company with Flock Safety's marketing budget and law-enforcement relationships. But the fact that hardware can apparently get powered on ahead of a vote should worry anyone who thinks 'we'll vote on it later' is a meaningful safeguard.

This is exactly why we track deployments block by block instead of trusting press releases — because the gap between what's approved and what's actually running in the wild is where mass surveillance quietly takes root. Check the map to see what's already watching your streets, and if your town is facing a Flock pitch, use our take-action resources before the council vote — not after the cameras are already live.