TechNewsPolicyFlock keeps ignoring requests to cancel its contractsCities are canceling Flock contracts, but the company won’t take them down and sometimes is reinstalling them.Cities are canceling Flock contracts, but the company won’t take them down and sometimes is reinstalling them.by Terrence O’BrienNov 1, 2026, 7:58 PM UTCShareGiftImage: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty ImagesPart OfThe fight over Flock and other ALPRssee all updates Terrence O’Brien is the Verge’s weekend editor. He’s covered the tech industry for over 18 years and knows a thing or two about synths.While more cities are canceling their contracts with Flock Safety, just as many are discovering how difficult that can be in some instances. Plymouth, Minnesota’s city council voted to terminate its contract with Flock in September, but failed to respond to the city’s request. For over a month, the cameras remained up, and the city had received no acknowledgment from the company.
So, Police Chief Eric Fadden took matters into his own hands and physically disconnected the cameras.“After hearing nothing for more than a week, I directed our staff to disconnect the power cords from the cameras in order to be sure that they are not functioning or recording plates,” Fadden told The Drive.Roughly 20 miles up the road, Dayton, Minnesota, is having its own issues with Flock. In this instance, the company acknowledged the city’s request and said it would take up to 60 days to remove the equipment. Despite this, Flock reconnected two cameras within the city limits without authorization, and following a specific request from the local police not to complete the work order.Dayton’s local government posted on Facebook:On September 17, 2026, the Police Department was made aware of a maintenance work order produced by Flock. The City notified Flock on September 18, 2026, that the program was on hold, and no work orders were to be completed.
Unfortunately, the City’s direction was not followed, and the camera was placed back into service without authorization.Flock spokesperson Andrew Smith told The Verge, “We are proud of the impact our technology has had in Plymouth. We respect the city’s decision and are working with the customer to have the cameras removed.”This follows a similar ordeal in Illinois, where the company refused to take down cameras and uncovered cameras at Elgin Community College after the administration sought to cancel its contract.Update November 1st: Added comment from Flock.Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.Terrence O’BrienLawNewsPolicyPoliticsPrivacyTechLA is just replacing Flock with a different company’s license plate readers.Terrence O’BrienOct 29The city that fought FlockLauren FeinerOct 26Benn Jordan’s long-running investigation of Flock culminates in a ‘review’ of the surveillance state.Terrence O’BrienOct 25Most PopularNew Zelda and GTA represent a games industry that no longer existsHomePod Mini 2 first look: Three things I love and one disappointmentSam Altman says it’s better for RAM to be in a data center than on your deskKeyboards of The VergeSam Altman sympathizes with mathematicians, but says OpenAI’s math onslaught won’t stopAdvertiser Content FromThis is the title for the native ad
