Every story below summarizes — and links directly to — original reporting from news outlets, civil-liberties organizations, and public records. This is the evidence base for why Flock cameras should be banned.
Dayton, Ohio covered every one of its 72 fixed-site Flock license plate reader cameras with trash bags after officials found the data had been used in ways that violated city policy, including immigration-enforcement data sharing.
Between August 2021 and May 2026, 82 Flock contracts were terminated across 28 states — 39 of them in just the first five months of 2026 — as a grassroots, DeFlock-fueled backlash spread nationwide.
A class action lawsuit alleges Flock Safety illegally shared California license plate data with federal agencies roughly 1.6 million times, with drivers accusing the company of funneling their movements to federal and out-of-state agencies.
A federal judge ruled that Norfolk, Virginia's 176-camera Flock ALPR network did not violate the Fourth Amendment, finding photos of plates on public roads are not an unreasonable search. The plaintiffs, whose cars were captured hundreds of times in four months, are appealing.
Eugene's City Council voted unanimously to turn off the city's Flock cameras, and neighboring Springfield announced the end of its Flock camera usage, amid mounting concern over data sharing and surveillance.
More than 80 law enforcement agencies used language perpetuating harmful stereotypes against Romani people when searching the nationwide Flock network, performing hundreds of searches between June 2024 and October 2025 using terms including racial slurs.
U.S. legislators, including Senator Ron Wyden, urged the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Flock Safety in November 2025 after stolen police login credentials exposed the surveillance system to potential hackers.
Federal immigration officials made hundreds of queries into Bend, Oregon's Flock Safety data in its first weeks of operation, with audits revealing 'front door,' 'back door,' and 'side door' federal access to local camera data.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta sued the City of El Cajon in October 2025 for systematically violating state law by sharing Flock ALPR data with out-of-state agencies.
An Illinois state audit determined that Flock Safety allowed U.S. Customs and Border Protection to access Illinois license plate cameras and run surveillance on drivers, in violation of state law restricting federal data sharing.
A Texas sheriff's office searched a nationwide network of tens of thousands of license plate readers — including thousands of Flock camera networks across multiple states — to track a single woman suspected of self-managing an abortion, as far as Illinois and Washington.