Huntington updates Public Safety Ordinance regarding Flock cameras
The short version: WOWK 13 News reports Huntington revised its public safety ordinance governing Flock camera use, but the real test is whether paper rules actually limit who can access the footage.
Our Take
WOWK 13 News flags something worth watching: Huntington, West Virginia is rewriting the ordinance that governs its Flock Safety contract. Local ordinance updates like this rarely make headlines outside the hometown paper, but they matter more than most city council votes because they're often the only real check on how ALPR data gets used, shared, and stored once the cameras go up.
The trouble with these ordinances is that they're easy to write and hard to enforce. A policy can say data is only used for specific investigations and purged after 30 days, but unless residents can actually audit search logs and know which outside agencies are pinging the system, the paperwork is just a press release with a city seal on it. Flock's own audit trail features exist, but they only work if someone outside the police department is actually looking at them.
If you live in or near Huntington, this is the moment to ask your city council for the actual ordinance text, not just the summary — find out who can query the system, whether federal agencies get access, and how long footage is retained. Check our camera map to see what's already deployed near you, and use our take-action guide to push for real transparency before the next contract renewal, not after.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of WOWK 13 News, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.