Testing of new plate readers after canceling Flock contract

Our Take

Credit to WKOW 27 News for following up on what happens after a city actually cancels a Flock Safety contract. The headline sounds like a win, but the reporting makes clear Fitchburg police aren't walking away from license plate surveillance — they're just shopping for a new vendor to run it. That's an important distinction for anyone cheering contract cancellations as the end of the story.

Swapping Flock for another brand doesn't change the core issues we track here: who owns the data, how long it's retained, which agencies get query access, and whether the public gets any real say before cameras go up again. A rebrand with fewer headlines doesn't mean fewer plates logged. If anything, quieter rollouts from lesser-known vendors can be harder for residents and journalists to scrutinize than a national player already under scrutiny.

Fitchburg residents and anyone nearby should be asking now — before the new system is fully deployed — for the same answers Flock critics demanded: contract terms, audit logs, and sharing agreements with other departments. Check our camera map to see what's already logged near you, and use our take-action resources to push your local council for transparency before the next vendor's cameras go live.