Vote to replace Flock cameras with Axon postponed at Denver City Council
The short version: Denver City Council postponed a vote to swap its Flock Safety ALPR contract for one with Axon, and CBS Colorado's report shows a debate about surveillance vendors, not surveillance itself.
Our Take
Credit to CBS Colorado for catching this one: Denver isn't asking whether it should have a citywide network of license plate readers watching where residents drive — it's asking which company should run it. That's the wrong question. Whether the logo on the camera says Flock or Axon, the underlying problem is the same: a permanent, searchable record of everyone's movements, built without a warrant and often without meaningful public input.
Axon swooping in as the "fix" for Flock's bad press should raise eyebrows, not relief. This is the same company that already sells tasers, body cameras, and drones to police departments nationwide — folding ALPR data into that ecosystem just deepens the surveillance-industrial complex rather than shrinking it. A vendor swap lets city officials say they've "listened to concerns" while the actual mass-surveillance infrastructure stays bolted to every intersection.
The postponement is a real opening. It gives Denver residents time to show up and demand the council reject blanket ALPR contracts altogether, not just haggle over which corporation profits from watching them. Check our map to see what's already deployed near you, and hit take action for tools to push back before this contract gets rubber-stamped under a new name.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of CBS Colorado, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.