City Council wants Flock cameras removed
The short version: El Paso's City Council voted unanimously to yank fixed Flock ALPR cameras tied to its old contract, proof that local pushback on mass surveillance can actually win.
Our Take
Credit to KTSM 9 News for catching a rare bit of good news: a city council actually voting to pull Flock Safety cameras instead of rubber-stamping another renewal. A unanimous vote isn't a fluke — it usually means enough residents made enough noise that even the most surveillance-friendly council members couldn't justify keeping the contract alive. That's the model. Councils don't police themselves; constituents make them.
What's notable here is that this wasn't a case of one lone privacy hawk losing a 6-1 vote. Every member signed off on removal, which suggests the concerns crossed party lines and ideology — cost, effectiveness, data-sharing risk, mission creep, take your pick. Flock's pitch to cities is always the same: crime-fighting convenience with minimal oversight. El Paso's move shows that pitch isn't bulletproof once people start asking who else can access the data and for how long.
El Paso isn't unique — it's part of a growing pattern of cities reconsidering these contracts once the details come out. If you want to see whether Flock cameras are watching your neighborhood, check our camera map, and if you'd like to push your own city council toward a vote like El Paso's, our take-action page has the tools to get started.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of KTSM 9 NEWS, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.