How many cities have dropped Flock
Nobody keeps an official count, so every number comes from a tracker with its own rules. The one most outlets cite is Secure Justice, an Oakland-based anti-surveillance group. It counted 214 cities and counties that dropped Flock between 2021 and late August 2026, and about 90 in August 2026 alone, roughly four times July's total (TechSpot, citing Ars Technica). Newsweek's map counted 149 places that cancelled, rejected or switched off Flock in 2026 through August (Newsweek).
The totals differ because "cancelled" covers different things: a council vote to end a contract, a police chief letting one lapse, a system switched off during an audit, or a proposal voted down before any camera went up.
Flock's answer is that it's still growing. A spokesperson said in August that "new city partnerships have outpaced nonrenewals by approximately 10 to one" in 2026. The company hasn't published the figures behind that, and the main trackers are run by groups that oppose the cameras, so read both sides as claims.
Cities that cancelled Flock, with sources
This list covers cases with a clear decision and a local report we could check. It's a sample of the larger tallies above, not all of them, ordered by date.
| Place | When | What happened | Reason given |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austin, TX | June 2025 | Contract not renewed; ended at the end of June | An audit found over 20% of searches lacked documentation; worries about sharing (EFF) |
| Cambridge, MA | Oct to Dec 2025 | Switched off and removed 16 cameras, then ended the contract | Flock installed two more cameras without the city's knowledge, which the city called a "material breach" (city statement) |
| Flagstaff, AZ | Dec 16, 2025 | Council voted unanimously to terminate | Months of debate (azfamily) |
| Santa Cruz, CA | Jan 2026 | Council voted 6-1 to terminate, the first California city to do so | State agencies searched its data about 4,000 times for federal agencies (KQED) |
| Lynnwood and Edmonds, WA | Feb and May 2026 | Lynnwood ended its contract seven months after install; Edmonds cancelled 19 grant-funded cameras | Federal agencies had reached Washington networks; a report on FBI interest in nationwide access (HeraldNet) |
| El Cerrito, CA | May 2026 | Council declined to renew; contract ended June 6 | Not stated in coverage; removal ran past Flock's August 18 deadline (KTVU) |
| Framingham, MA | June 30, 2026 | Police didn't renew; access ended when the contract did | Months of resident opposition over privacy and data sharing (Boston.com) |
| Los Angeles, CA | July 2026 | LAPD let its Flock contract expire | An inspector general audit found about a third of stolen-vehicle alerts were false (SAN) |
| Harrisonburg, VA | July 28, 2026 | Council voted 4-0 to end the contract | Local campaign by DeFlock Harrisonburg (WHSV) |
| Ord, NE | Aug 3, 2026 | Council voted 5-0 to start removing two county-owned cameras | Residents' objections; the mayor said "you don't know where your data is going" (WOWT) |
| Chandler, AZ | Aug 7, 2026 | Shut down all 40 cameras | An audit flagged an officer who used the system to track a family member (azfamily) |
| Asheville, NC | Aug 25, 2026 | Council voted 5-2 to end the contract for 11 city cameras | The mayor cited cities' limited control over who Flock data is shared with (WUNC) |
| Tempe, AZ | Aug 26, 2026 | Turned off its cameras and ended the contract | "Risk of misuse is too great" (azfamily), though officials found no misuse in Tempe (Newsweek) |
| Lynchburg, VA | Sept 3, 2026 | Council voted 6-1 to end the contract for 15 plate readers and 55 gunshot sensors | Timing of removal and a possible $35,000 fee were still debated (WSET) |
| Oberlin, OH | Late Sept 2026 | Announced it would end its contract | A price increase, per the Oberlin Review (Jalopnik) |
| Excelsior Springs, MO | Oct 19, 2026 | Council voted unanimously to end funding; crews were to bag its 15 cameras the next day | A petition with over 1,000 signatures and a tight budget (KCTV5) |
Arizona alone also saw Sedona, Payson, Cave Creek, Sierra Vista, South Tucson and Surprise end or drop Flock this year, per the same azfamily roundup. Phoenix, Tucson and Mesa kept theirs.
Why cities are dropping Flock
The reasons in the table fall into a few groups, and most cities cited more than one.
- Who else can search the data. Santa Cruz, Edmonds and Asheville all pointed to outside or federal agencies reaching local cameras. Our guide to whether Flock shares data with ICE covers how that happens.
- Misuse found in audits. Chandler and Austin acted after internal audits. Tempe dropped Flock without finding any.
- Accuracy. LAPD's audit counted 161 vehicles wrongly flagged as stolen, against 337 correct alerts.
- Cost and contract terms. Oberlin cited a price rise and Excelsior Springs cut it in a budget squeeze. Lorain County, Ohio, objected to changes in Flock's proposed user agreement, per Jalopnik.
State action adds pressure. Florida's transportation department revoked permits for plate readers on state highway right-of-way, and Texas paused state funding for Flock. Neither is a ban on city contracts; our state-by-state table has the details.
A cancelled contract isn't the same as cameras gone
A vote ends the contract. The hardware comes down later, sometimes much later. El Cerrito's contract ended June 6, and on August 19 about half its cameras were still up, with the city weighing fines against Flock. Lynchburg planned to keep its cameras offline until the agreement expires in April unless council set an earlier date. Excelsior Springs had crews bag its cameras the morning after the vote.
Ownership matters too. A city vote only covers the cameras the city pays for. Asheville's council ended a contract for 11 cameras, while its interim police chief said 86 Flock cameras run across Buncombe County under various owners. Ord's two cameras belong to the county, so the city had to ask regional officials to take them down. In Framingham, the council chair said the cameras were "coming off our streets but not disappearing by any means", because local businesses run Flock too.
And dropping Flock isn't always dropping plate readers. EFF-Austin noted Austin still had plate readers through Axon, and Asheville kept Axon dashboard cameras on its patrol cars.
Checking what's still mapped in a city that cancelled
Most of the places in the table still have Flock Safety pins inside their limits in the app's October 8, 2026 camera data, including Tempe, Chandler, Asheville, Edmonds and Lynnwood. That doesn't mean the votes did nothing. A pin is a camera someone mapped, not a camera that's switched on, and the map lags removals. Some of those pins also belong to other owners.
Flock Camera's map shows the recorded operator when you tap a camera, so you can tell a city police camera from one run by a county, a store or an HOA. Area Stats lists the top operators for whatever part of the map is on screen. The town pages linked in the table show the current count for each place, and the web map shows the pins.
If a camera you know has come down is still mapped, it can be fixed on OpenStreetMap, the same way missing cameras get added; the app's bundled camera data is refreshed when the app is updated.
To find out whether your own city's contract is up for renewal, or what it costs, a public records request for the contract and the council agenda is the place to start.
Frequently asked questions
How many cities have cancelled Flock?
Secure Justice counted 214 cities and counties that dropped Flock between 2021 and late August 2026, with about 90 in August 2026 alone. Other trackers count differently, partly because some include rejected proposals and paused systems, so totals vary by tracker.
Why are cities dropping Flock?
The reasons given most often are outside agencies searching local data, officer misuse found in audits, false stolen-vehicle alerts, cost and resident petitions. Some cities, like Oberlin, Ohio, and Excelsior Springs, Missouri, pointed mainly to price or budget cuts.
Are Flock cameras removed after a city cancels?
Usually, but not always quickly. El Cerrito's contract ended in June 2026 and about half its cameras were still standing in mid-August. Some cities cover cameras with bags first. Cameras owned by a county, a store or an HOA aren't affected by a city vote at all.
Does cancelling Flock mean police stop using plate readers?
Not necessarily. Austin kept plate readers through its Axon contract after its Flock contract ended, and Asheville's council kept Axon dashboard cameras on police cars. A Flock cancellation ends one vendor's contract, not every plate reader in town.
Is Flock losing customers overall?
Flock says no. In August 2026 a spokesperson said new city partnerships had outpaced non-renewals by about 10 to 1 that year. The company hasn't published the numbers behind that claim, and the cancellation trackers are run by groups that oppose the cameras.
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Last reviewed 2026-10-23. Camera data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Flock Camera is an independent project and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Flock Safety, Inc.