Reynoldsburg mayor shares factors behind decision to stop using Flock camera system
The short version: Reynoldsburg's mayor pulled the plug on Flock cameras, insisting it wasn't about cost or copying Columbus — a sign that local leaders are rethinking ALPR math on their own terms.
Our Take
Credit to WBNS 10TV for getting Mayor Joe Begeny on record explaining why Reynoldsburg is walking away from Flock Safety's camera network. What's notable isn't just the decision — it's the insistence that this wasn't a budget call and wasn't Reynoldsburg following Columbus' lead. That framing matters. It suggests city officials are increasingly willing to evaluate these systems on their own merits, rather than treating ALPR deployment as an inevitability once a neighboring jurisdiction signs a contract.
We've said it before: the "everyone else is doing it" logic is one of the main ways blanket license plate surveillance spreads from city to city with minimal public debate. When a mayor goes out of his way to say a pullback was deliberate and independent, that's worth paying attention to. It opens space for other city councils to ask the same hard questions about efficacy, data retention, and who actually has access to the footage — instead of just rubber-stamping renewal contracts.
Reynoldsburg's reversal doesn't undo the thousands of Flock cameras still quietly logging plates across the country. If you want to see what's actually deployed near you, check our camera map, and if you'd rather push your own city to reconsider its contract, our take-action page has a starting point.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of WBNS 10TV, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.