Virginia City Shuts Off All 15 Flock Cameras Pending Review, Other Jurisdictions Debate Future

The Center Square's Sherlene Guerrero, Zachary Schmidt and Madeline Shannon report on a wave of cities and counties across Virginia, Arizona and California reconsidering their use of Flock Safety's automated license plate reader cameras, including one Arizona officer's resignation after using the cameras to track his wife. In Virginia, Lynchburg temporarily shut off all 15 of its fixed Flock cameras pending an independent review of policies and training, which police say followed community feedback rather than confirmed misuse; Harrisonburg, Charlottesville and Staunton have already ended their use of the cameras. In Arizona, Pinal County Sheriff Ross Teeple canceled his department's Flock contract citing Fourth Amendment concerns, the city of Surprise canceled its contract after an officer was placed on leave for potential misuse, and an Apache Junction officer resigned after using the cameras to track his wife, prompting the department to tighten access policies. Tempe announced it will stop sharing external Flock data after a city council member called the technology a violation of Fourth Amendment rights. In California, a bill from state Senator Sabrina Cervantes would limit license plate data retention to 60 days, dropping to 14 days in 2027, and require annual audits of law enforcement agencies using the technology. Separately, campaign finance tracker OpenSecrets found Flock has spent more than $2 million lobbying across 34 states, Congress and the executive branch since 2025.