Six cities and counties move to cancel Flock Safety camera deals priced $10 under the vote line
Six cities and counties severed, suspended or moved to defund Flock Safety's license-plate cameras this week, just as a buyout strips about 270 staff from a company valued at $7.5 billion in March. Knox County's sheriff spent more than $250,000 on 143 cameras without a commissioner vote; councils are now voting the network out.
Vincent Jiang · 4 min read
A dime under the line, 143 cameras later
Knox County, Tennessee's sheriff bought Flock Safety cameras in batches priced at $24,990, exactly $10 under the $25,000 line that triggers mayoral review 1. Commissioners found 143 cameras and more than $250,000 of spending no elected official had authorized, voided the contract, and when Flock missed the removal deadline, county crews covered the lenses in plastic 1. Denver ran the same play: the council rejected a $666,000 renewal, and the mayor's office signed a $498,500 extension, $1,500 under the council's $500,000 line 1.
Priced to the penny under the vote threshold
- Contract signed
- Vote threshold
Data
| Contract signed | Vote threshold | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Knox County, TN: $10 under | $24,990 | $25,000 | +0.0% |
| Denver, CO: $1,500 under | $498,500 | $500,000 | +0.3% |
What the $7.5 billion network scans
Reuters reported on October 8, 2026, that Flock will cut about 270 people, 18 percent of its roughly 1,500 staff, in a buyout whose departures leave at the end of October 2. The $275 million March round, led by the venture firm Andreessen Horowitz, valued the Atlanta company at $7.5 billion; its roughly 120,000 cameras read plates across 49 states for more than 4,800 law-enforcement agencies 2, about 20 billion scans a month by one tally 1.
Leaving is harder than signing
Flock owns the cameras it sells: its contracts state the company retains ownership of the products it sells to cities 3. Elgin Community College in Illinois asked to cancel in October 2025; Flock refused, the school zip-tied garbage bags over six lenses, and workers kept taking the bags down until the contract expired in April 3. Flock's February 2026 terms dropped the pledge not to sell customer data, added a perpetual license to use and disclose footage after a contract ends, and restricted early exit 1.
Six cities and counties, one week
Wausau, Wisconsin's public-safety committee voted to withhold $50,000 payments in its 2027 and 2028 budgets while exploring termination 4. Excelsior Springs, Missouri terminated its contract unanimously, with exit ordered within 30 days 5.
Maries County, Missouri canceled a roughly $13,300 agreement, for cameras that permitting problems never let it install, and wants more than $13,000 in state grant money back; Sheriff Mark Morgan, a self-described "big fan" of the system, acted after a Flock representative skipped a October 15 public meeting and blamed a calendar lapse 6.
Siloam Springs, Arkansas switched its cameras off while its board weighs the contract 7. Arvada, Colorado's police chief asked to strike roughly $24,000 from the 2027 budget, with the council expected to approve on October 20 8. Sterling Heights, Michigan argued more than four hours over 23 cameras costing just over $84,000 a year, renewal due in December, exit at $500 a camera 9.
214 cancellations since 2021, and 93 of them in August alone
Data
| Value | |
|---|---|
| Since 2021 | 214 |
| January to August 2026 | 165 |
| August 2026 alone | 93 |
The company says it is still winning
New city partnerships have outpaced nonrenewals roughly 10 to 1 this year, spokesperson Courtney Terlecki told Ars Technica, which also asked how many new customers Flock signed and got no number 10.
The outside tallies disagree because they are counted separately: Secure Justice, an Oakland-based advocacy group, puts the exits at 214 cities and counties since 2021, 165 of them in the first eight months of 2026 and 93 in August alone 10, while the Institute for Justice, a public-interest law firm, counts more than 250, with 39 through May 1.
A University of South Carolina study of 216 jurisdictions found motor-vehicle thefts down 11 percent where the cameras went in, though critics note Flock has funded some of that research 11.
The money moves sideways. Denver's council voted 7-6 to replace Flock with a rival's 50-camera system 1. Oakland County, Michigan steered a $2.9 million auto-theft grant to Flock and up to $200,000 for a plate-reader database from Motorola Solutions+0.87% — Motorola Solutions, up 0.87 percent as of its last quote, the police-radio and camera vendor holding $64.7 million in county contracts, after commission chair Dave Woodward took undisclosed vendor-paid trips before votes involving both companies 12.
What decides it
Sterling Heights rules on its renewal in December 9. A Virginia lawsuit argues the cameras amount to warrantless surveillance, and a ruling there would outweigh any single council vote 2. The $7.5 billion valuation rests on new signings outpacing exits, on numbers only Flock can see 10. For years these cameras went up without a council vote in thousands of communities 1; the past week put them on the agenda in six places at once.
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