Third New Mexico law enforcement agency cuts ties with Flock Safety
The short version: KRQE reports a third New Mexico agency has dropped Flock Safety, signaling growing local pushback against ALPR surveillance contracts.
Our Take
Three strikes and a pattern emerges. KRQE's reporting on a third New Mexico law enforcement agency walking away from Flock Safety isn't just a local blip — it's a signal that the sales pitch of "free crime-fighting cameras" doesn't always survive contact with public records requests, budget reviews, and community pushback. When agencies that once signed on the dotted line start quietly exiting, it usually means someone asked the right questions about cost, data retention, or accountability and didn't like the answers.
What makes New Mexico worth watching is that this isn't happening in a vacuum. Departments talk to each other, and county commissions watch what neighboring jurisdictions do before renewing their own contracts. A third cancellation gives ammunition to every city council member or sheriff who's been quietly uneasy about handing a private company a live feed of every car that passes through town. Credit to KRQE for keeping a spotlight on these decisions instead of letting them pass as routine budget footnotes.
If you want to know whether your own community is feeding a network like this, check our camera map to see what's already been documented near you, and if you'd rather not wait for your city to figure it out on its own, our take-action page has concrete steps for pushing back at the local level.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of KRQE, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.