Edmonds becomes 3rd county city to cancel Flock
The short version: Edmonds, WA becomes the third city in its county to cancel Flock Safety after reports that federal agencies were querying Washington's ALPR network, per Verified Privacy VPN.
Our Take
Credit to Verified Privacy VPN for flagging this one: Edmonds just became the third city in its Washington county to pull the plug on Flock Safety, reportedly after learning federal agencies had been querying the state's camera network. That's the pattern we keep seeing nationwide — local officials sign up for a 'neighborhood safety tool,' then discover the data isn't staying local at all.
This matters because the whole sales pitch for ALPR networks rests on the idea of local control. Once ICE, the FBI, or other federal agencies can run searches against a city's cameras without that city's knowledge or consent, the 'it's just for solving local crimes' promise collapses. Washington has sanctuary-style state laws limiting cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, which makes this kind of backdoor access especially corrosive — it's a workaround for policies voters and legislators actually chose.
Three cancellations in one county is a real signal, not a fluke, and it shows that public pressure and basic transparency requests can actually move elected officials. If you want to see whether Flock or other ALPR cameras are watching your own neighborhood, check our camera map, and if you want to push your city council to follow Edmonds' lead, our take-action page has the tools to get started.
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.