Another Virginia town has decided not to renew its contract with Flock Safety

Our Take

Credit to WSET ABC 13 for catching this one: Martinsville is walking away from Flock Safety once its current contract runs out. What makes this notable isn't that police found the cameras "useful" — of course they did, more surveillance data almost always helps close cases after the fact. What matters is that "useful" wasn't enough to justify renewal. That's the real story buried in local news coverage like this.

We've seen this pattern repeat across Virginia and beyond: a town signs up, runs a pilot period, and then someone — a council member, a budget officer, a privacy-minded resident — asks the harder question of whether blanket vehicle tracking of every driver who passes through town is worth the price tag and the precedent. Usefulness to law enforcement was never really in dispute; the debate is about whether that usefulness justifies a permanent, searchable record of everyone's movements, and who gets to query it down the line.

Every non-renewal chips away at the industry's favorite talking point — that ALPR networks are inevitable and irreversible once installed. They're not. If you want to see whether Flock or similar systems are active near you, check our camera map, and if your town is weighing a renewal or a new contract, our take-action resources can help you make the case before the ink dries.