---
title: "Flock will not pay to remove the 128 cameras Henrico pulled out itself"
description: "The company says its contracts set no removal deadline, so Henrico County's weekend teardown stays on the county's budget. League City and York voters threw the cameras out at the ballot in the same week, and the bill for leaving lands on the towns."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Policy & Labor"
published: 2026-11-05T16:28:44.611Z
modified: 2026-11-05T16:28:44.611Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/flock-will-not-pay-to-remove-the-128-cameras-henrico-pulled-out-itself
language: en
keywords: "Flock Safety, Surveillance, License Plate Readers, Local Government, Contracts"
---

# Flock will not pay to remove the 128 cameras Henrico pulled out itself

> The company says its contracts set no removal deadline, so Henrico County's weekend teardown stays on the county's budget. League City and York voters threw the cameras out at the ballot in the same week, and the bill for leaving lands on the towns.

## Flock says the removal bill belongs to Henrico

Flock Safety said on November 4, 2026, that it [will not reimburse Henrico County, Virginia, for the cost of taking down its cameras](https://www.wric.com/news/local-news/henrico-county/flock-no-reimbursement-camera-removal/) [1]. The county's public works crews, 25 to 30 of them, unbolted all 128 leased readers on October 31 after Flock let a October 21 deadline pass; the company says that date was a request, not an obligation, and its contracts promise removal only "within a commercially reasonable time period" [1][2].

The county had posted that Flock would cover its costs, then [said on November 3 it would not seek reimbursement](https://www.henricocitizen.com/henrico-removes-all-flock-cameras-wont-seek-reimbursement-for-efforts-after-initially-indicating-it-would/), and it has not disclosed what the operation cost [2]. Flock spokesperson Andrew Smith said the crews "went ahead and chose to do that on their own" [2].

## Voters have started canceling the cameras themselves

League City, Texas, [rejected its Flock program at the ballot](https://www.click2houston.com/decision-2026/2026/11/04/league-city-voters-reject-flock-cameras-triggering-removal-plan/) on November 3, 25,021 votes to 21,412 with 54 percent against, and a October 13 council resolution orders every fixed camera removed or covered within 72 hours of the canvass, the official vote count [3]. York, Maine, passed a ban the same night and must now remove or shut off its cameras [4]. Anderson County, South Carolina, barred county funds and property from supporting the readers, ending a $30,000-to-$40,000 annual subscription on 10 cameras [5].

Renton, Washington, let an $80,000-a-year contract lapse on November 2, a year after University of Washington researchers showed [federal immigration authorities had searched its data without the city's knowledge](https://www.govtech.com/public-safety/renton-wash-ends-flock-safety-contract-removes-cameras) [6]. Springfield, Massachusetts, is drafting a ban its police superintendent resists: "Absolutely we want to keep it," Lawrence Akers said [7].

*Chart: **Henrico's do-it-yourself exit dwarfs the other camera removals** Bar chart of Flock cameras removed or coming down by jurisdiction: Henrico County 128, Renton about 24, Anderson County 10*

*Flock license plate reader cameras removed or slated for removal, November 2026. Henrico count from county officials via the Henrico Citizen; Renton reported as about two dozen; Anderson County from its council. [2][5][6]*

## Toledo could not quit, and the towns pay to leave

Toledo, Ohio, tried and failed on November 4: [a vote to terminate lost, a revote tied](https://www.13abc.com/2026/11/04/toledo-city-council-votes-against-ending-flock-contract/), and the cameras stay live pending an audit until Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz breaks the tie on November 17 [8]. Flock owns its devices and leases them to customers [12], so the exit costs land on the town. Collegedale, Tennessee paid $500 per camera to remove five units [9], and [Anderson County will send sheriff's deputies where its cameras stood](https://www.wspa.com/news/anderson-county-ends-flock-camera-use/) [5].

In Plymouth, Minnesota, a Flock-hired contractor [replaced on November 4 a camera the police chief had ordered unplugged](https://www.thedrive.com/news/flock-just-replaced-a-camera-my-city-banned-and-unplugged-calling-it-broken); Flock calls it a missed maintenance order, and The Drive, the automotive outlet that watched the install, found the new unit plugged in [10]. Dayton, Minnesota says two cameras were reinstalled after it told Flock to stop work [9].

## Axon picks up the switches while the scorecard stays hidden

[Axon](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/axon) Enterprise, the listed Taser and body-camera maker, is picking up the cities that keep plate readers: Reno, Nevada voted 5 to 2 on October 21 for [an eight-year, $21.8 million package](https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/flock-is-out-in-reno-but-city-will-still-use-license-plate-readers) that includes them, and Sparks signed a nearly $1 million deal in June [11]. At least 214 cities and counties have ended Flock relationships, 90 of them in a single month, and Flock says new partnerships outpace non-renewals 10 to 1 [12].

If exits run this slowly, with Toledo's cameras live and Plymouth's pole getting a replacement Flock unit rather than a rival's, Axon's conversion of the churn is likely slower than the switch headlines suggest. Flock has raised $950 million in total, at a $7.5 billion valuation, and reduced its staff by about 270 in October after a voluntary buyout [12]. Net logo retention, logos added minus logos lost, is the number that prices the churn, and no side publishes it.

## Two dates decide the pace

League City's resolution gives staff 72 hours from the canvass to remove or cover every camera [3], and Toledo's mayor breaks the council's tie on November 17 [8]. A town can vote the cameras out and still find the bill, and sometimes a new camera, on the same pole.

## Takeaway

Flock's contracts promise camera removal only in a commercially reasonable time, so towns that vote the cameras out pay to take them down; Toledo's tie-break on November 17 sets the pace.

## Sources

1. [WRIC ABC 8News, 'Flock will not reimburse Henrico for removal of more than 120 cameras,' 4 November 2026](https://www.wric.com/news/local-news/henrico-county/flock-no-reimbursement-camera-removal/)
2. [Henrico Citizen (Tom Lappas), 'Henrico removes all Flock cameras, won't seek reimbursement for efforts after initially indicating it would,' 3 November 2026](https://www.henricocitizen.com/henrico-removes-all-flock-cameras-wont-seek-reimbursement-for-efforts-after-initially-indicating-it-would/)
3. [Click2Houston / KPRC 2, 'League City voters reject Flock cameras, triggering removal plan,' 4 November 2026](https://www.click2houston.com/decision-2026/2026/11/04/league-city-voters-reject-flock-cameras-triggering-removal-plan/)
4. [WGME, 'York voters approve ban on Flock license plate cameras,' 4 November 2026](https://wgme.com/news/local/york-voters-approve-ban-on-flock-license-plate-cameras-maine-crime-ai-artificial-intelligence-privacy-concerns)
5. [WSPA 7News, 'Anderson County ends use of Flock cameras,' 4 November 2026](https://www.wspa.com/news/anderson-county-ends-flock-camera-use/)
6. [Government Technology / The Seattle Times (Catalina Gaitán), 'Renton, Wash., Ends Flock Safety Contract, Removes Cameras,' 4 November 2026](https://www.govtech.com/public-safety/renton-wash-ends-flock-safety-contract-removes-cameras)
7. [MassLive (Jeanette DeForge), 'Springfield City Councilor proposes ordinance to ban Flock cameras,' November 2026](https://www.masslive.com/westernmass/2026/11/springfield-city-councilor-proposes-ordinance-to-ban-flock-cameras.html)
8. [WTVG 13abc, 'Toledo City Council vote on Flock Safety contract ends in tie; mayor to cast deciding vote,' 4 November 2026](https://www.13abc.com/2026/11/04/toledo-city-council-votes-against-ending-flock-contract/)
9. [The Auto Wire (Shawn Henry), 'A Minnesota city canceled Flock, got no reply and had its police chief unplug the cameras. Dayton says Flock put two back up anyway,' 4 November 2026](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/a-minnesota-city-canceled-flock-got-no-reply-and-had-its-police-chief-unplug-the-cameras-dayton-says-flock-put-two-back-up-anyway/ar-AA2gMzFg)
10. [The Drive (Joel Feder), "Flock Just Replaced a Camera My City Banned and Unplugged, Calling It 'Broken'," 4 November 2026](https://www.thedrive.com/news/flock-just-replaced-a-camera-my-city-banned-and-unplugged-calling-it-broken)
11. [The Nevada Independent (Piper Heath), 'Flock is out in Reno, but city will still use license plate readers,' 22 October 2026](https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/flock-is-out-in-reno-but-city-will-still-use-license-plate-readers)
12. [Wikipedia, 'Flock Safety,' accessed 5 November 2026](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flock_Safety)


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Flock will not pay to remove the 128 cameras Henrico pulled out itself — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/flock-will-not-pay-to-remove-the-128-cameras-henrico-pulled-out-itself