Should your city get to vote on Flock contracts?

Our Take

Knowflo traces Flock Safety's origin story — three Georgia Tech friends and a dining-room table — but the real story is what happens after the cameras leave that table. Today these devices get bolted onto street poles in thousands of towns through contracts negotiated almost entirely behind closed doors, between a police chief and a sales rep. No ballot measure, often no public hearing worth the name, just a line item in a budget meeting most residents never attend.

That matters because an ALPR network isn't a gadget purchase, it's a permanent record of everywhere a car goes, shared across departments and sometimes states. Once a city signs, pulling out is a political fight, not a simple opt-out. Knowflo's framing — should your city get to vote — cuts to the heart of what we keep hearing from readers: the people being watched had no say in whether the watching would happen at all.

Credit to Knowflo for pushing this into public view. If you want to see whether your own neighborhood already has cameras running, check our map, and if you'd rather your city council hear from you before the next contract renewal, our take-action page has the tools to make that happen.