Police cancel contracts with Flock amid privacy concerns
The short version: 11Alive reports that new audit tools exposing misuse of Flock's ALPR network are pushing some police departments to actually cancel their contracts.
Our Take
Credit to 11Alive for digging into something we've been saying for a while: the audit trail was always the weak point in Flock's sales pitch. Departments bought the promise of "accountability" software, and now that the same tools are surfacing officers running plates for personal reasons, ex-partners, or just plain curiosity, some agencies are finding the political cover to walk away. That's not Flock policing itself — that's public pressure and reporters forcing transparency the company never volunteered.
What's notable is that it took audit logs actually being scrutinized, not just existing, to trigger cancellations. That tells you how many other departments running the same cameras have never bothered to check, or worse, have checked and buried it. A camera network with lax oversight isn't a bug in the system, it's the system — mass ALPR surveillance runs on the assumption that nobody's watching the watchers.
Every canceled contract is proof this fight is winnable, but it's happening city by city, one embarrassing headline at a time. If you want to see whether Flock or similar plate readers are already logging your daily movements, check our camera map, and if your local council hasn't had this conversation yet, our take-action page has what you need to start it.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of 11Alive, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.