El Cerrito to begin removing Flock cameras
The short version: El Cerrito is pulling its Flock ALPR cameras, proving that local pushback can actually reverse a city's surveillance contract, as NBC Bay Area's Bob Redell reports.
Our Take
Score one for the residents who showed up to council meetings and asked the obvious question: why is a small East Bay city paying a private surveillance company to log every car that passes through town? NBC Bay Area's Bob Redell lays out how El Cerrito is now unwinding its Flock Safety contract, and that's a genuinely rare outcome. Most cities quietly renew these deals year after year without a second look.
What makes this story matter beyond El Cerrito is the reminder that these contracts aren't permanent fixtures once installed. Flock pitches ALPR networks as a low-friction public safety upgrade, but the data-sharing footprint, the lack of independent audits, and the mission creep toward immigration and out-of-state law enforcement requests are exactly why more councils are getting cold feet. El Cerrito didn't cut ties because the cameras were flashy failures — it happened because people paid attention and pushed.
If you want to see whether your own city is running this same surveillance dragnet, check our camera map, and if you'd rather be part of the next removal story instead of just reading about one, our take-action guide walks you through exactly how organizers in towns like El Cerrito got it done.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of NBC Bay Area, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.