Where communities are pushing surveillance back

Statewide group DeFlock CT is organizing against ALPR surveillance across Connecticut.

Portland, Maine voters approved a facial-recognition ban by ballot measure, with an enforcement provision letting residents sue the city over violations.

Paused the program in October 2025, then terminated the contract for cause in December after discovering Flock had installed two cameras without the city awareness.

Boston banned police and city use of facial recognition, and barred officers from asking another agency to run it on their behalf.

Somerville became the second US city to ban government use of facial recognition, kicking off a wave of bans across Massachusetts.

Village considering restrictions and limits on ALPR use.

Village cancelled its Flock contract after more than 450 residents petitioned officials.

County legislature voted to end the Flock contract and remove the license plate readers and gunshot detectors used by the sheriff office.

Village board voted 4-1 to cancel the Flock contract and never re-enter, after only 3 of 12 planned cameras had been installed.

Common Council voted to terminate its Flock contract as out of line with Ithaca sanctuary-city policies.

Common Council voted to revoke the Flock contract and switch to Axon, after police inadvertently opted into national data sharing and Border Patrol ran more than 2,000 immigration-related searches.

Council moved to stop payments to Flock; the mayor declared a state of emergency to keep the cameras on, and the council sued over the emergency order and the contract renewal.

Residents successfully pushed back against a Flock contract, per the NYCLU. Details are limited.

Residents successfully pushed back against a Flock contract, per the NYCLU. Details are limited.

Canceled its Flock contract after local data sharing was revealed, bagged the cameras, then caught Flock reinstalling them; Flock finally removed the second round in early 2026.

Local DeFlock chapter DeFlock Sterling is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Local group Get the Flock Out Indivisible HP is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Local group Get the Flock Out Quad Cities is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Local group Stop Flock in Woodstock is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Local group StopFlock CU is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Local group Flock Out of SW IN is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Local group Eyes Off Cedar Rapids is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Local group Sunflower Privacy Alliance is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

City Council voted down renewal of the city's four-camera Flock program. A police officer resigned in protest at the meeting.

City Council voted unanimously to remove all of the city's Flock cameras after privacy concerns; several had already been taken down before the final vote.

Minneapolis banned police use of facial recognition, the city where George Floyd was killed the previous year.

Statewide group Minnesota Privacy Project is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Local DeFlock chapter DeFlock Joplin is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Local DeFlock chapter DeFlock STL is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Local DeFlock chapter DeFlock U City is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Local group Flock Out SGF is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

City Council's Safety Committee voted 3-1 against renewing the city's $250,000 Flock contract in June 2026; it expires June 29. Local coalition Flock No CLE organized the opposition.

Indefinitely suspended its ALPR program, covered all 72 cameras with trash bags pending removal, and canceled a planned 27-camera expansion, after finding about 7,100 immigration-related searches. The commission has not yet voted to cancel the contract; residents are demanding full removal.

The local group DeflockUA is organizing against the city ALPR program, which expanded from 6 to 20 cameras. Active local pushback, no council reversal yet.

Local DeFlock chapter DeFlock Lakewood is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Council voted 7-0 to rescind the contract less than 24 hours after approving it, after the police chief said Flock misrepresented its heat-map capability to the council.

Local DeFlock chapter DeFlock Dane is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Local DeFlock chapter DeFlock Birmingham is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Local DeFlock chapter DeFlock D.C. is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Local chapter FLDR Brevard is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Local chapter FLDR Broward is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Local chapter FLDR Jacksonville is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Local chapter FLDR Tampa Bay is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Statewide group Florida Digital Rights Association is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Local group Miami Tech Enthusiast Club is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Local DeFlock chapter DeFlock Atlanta is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Local group KSU ALPRs is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Local group Northern Georgia CAN is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

New Orleans banned city use of facial recognition in 2020, then amended the ordinance in 2022 to allow limited use for violent-crime investigations with supervisor approval.

1. Dec 2020 New Orleans banned city use of facial recognition. stateofsurveillance.org
2. Jul 2022 The city council amended the ordinance to allow limited facial-recognition use for violent-crime investigations with supervisor approval. stateofsurveillance.org

Local group Get the Flock Out of Central Louisiana is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Local group No Flock NO is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Town ended its Flock relationship over contract language that could let the company disclose data to government entities on a good-faith belief.

Statewide group DeFlock North Carolina is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Local DeFlock chapter DeFlock Wilmington is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Local groups DeFlock GSP and Upstate Food Not Bombs are organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Statewide group DeFlock South Carolina is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Local group Maryville Privacy is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Local group Nash Community Safety Network is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Council voted 3-2 to immediately terminate the Flock contract after a bitter fight in the roughly 900-person town; an earlier camera had been vandalized and removed.

The local group DeFlock Tyler is gathering signatures to have the city remove its Flock cameras. Organizing stage, no council vote yet.

County commissioners terminated the Flock contract, citing the company practices rather than the technology itself.

Became the first major city to cancel a Flock contract after community pressure, removing all city cameras. Police later used another agency as a workaround, reported in February 2026.

Local DeFlock chapter DeFlock BCS is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Local DeFlock chapter DeFlock Carrollton is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Local DeFlock chapter DeFlock Temple is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Residents Lee Schmidt and Crystal Arrington, backed by the Institute for Justice, sued over the city's roughly 176 Flock cameras. A federal judge granted the city summary judgment in January 2026; the plaintiffs are appealing to the Fourth Circuit.

1. Oct 2024 Norfolk residents Lee Schmidt and Crystal Arrington, represented by the Institute for Justice, sued the city over its 172 Flock cameras, arguing the network is a warrantless search under the Fourth Amendment. ij.org
2. Feb 2025 A federal judge ruled the lawsuit could move forward past the city motion to dismiss. ij.org
3. Jun 2025 The court rejected Flock Safety late attempt to intervene and defend its own cameras in the case. ij.org
4. Jan 2026 Judge Mark Davis ruled the 176 Flock cameras constitutional, finding they do not amount to a search. The plaintiffs said they will appeal to the Fourth Circuit. courthousenews.com

Police chief terminated the contract and removed all stationary ALPR cameras.

City Council voted to discontinue its Flock contract after a one-year pilot expired, removing all 10 ALPR cameras over data-protection and misuse concerns.

Local DeFlock chapter DeFlock Chesterfield is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Local DeFlock chapter DeFlock Fairfax is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Local DeFlock chapter DeFlock Harrisonburg is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Local DeFlock chapter DeFlock Loudoun is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Local DeFlock chapter DeFlock Williamsburg is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Local group DeFlock the Valley is organizing against ALPR surveillance in the Shenandoah Valley.

Local group Richmond DSA is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Council voted to end the city contract for 36 Flock cameras after a public comment period dominated by surveillance and immigration concerns.

Local DeFlock chapter DeFlock Tucson is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Statewide group Live Free AZ is organizing against ALPR surveillance across Arizona.

An SFPD audit found federal and out-of-state agencies improperly accessed Flock data, with a separate report counting 1.6 million shares in a year. The chief revoked one intelligence center access, but the department defended the system as residents demand the contract be terminated.

Council renewed the existing ALPRs 5-4 but rejected 8-1 a proposed expansion to fixed cameras, community video, responder drones, and investigations software.

Police department suspended its Flock ALPRs and physically covered the lenses after an audit found a nationwide-query setting sharing data with federal agencies in violation of state law.

County board voted 3-2 to bar the sheriff office from operating or touching Flock data, effectively neutralizing the cameras for Cupertino and Saratoga.

Community college district discontinued its ALPR program, covered the camera lenses, and disabled all data sharing.

Disabled all 30 cameras and voted to terminate the contract after an audit revealed the ATF, Air Force, and GSA Inspector General had unauthorized access, plus an estimated 600,000 unauthorized statewide queries.

The city deactivated its own Flock camera network after discovering that federal officials could search its database.

Became the first California city to sever ties with Flock, ending its contract after learning local data had been shared into the national network and with ICE.

Council canceled the contract for 14 cameras after reports that Southern California agencies illegally shared Flock data with federal immigration agents.

Town terminated its Flock contract amid the regional data-sharing fallout.

City council voted to continue its ALPR program over objections; the TRUST Coalition continues pressing for cancellation.

EFF and the ACLU of Northern California sued the city over warrantless ALPR searches; the database was queried nearly 4 million times in a single year.

Oakland banned city use of facial recognition, one of the first wave of California bans alongside San Francisco and Berkeley.

San Francisco became the first city in the United States to ban police and city use of facial recognition.

1. May 2019 San Francisco became the first city in the United States to ban police and city use of facial recognition. eff.org
2. May 2024 A Washington Post investigation found San Francisco and Austin police skirted their bans by asking officers in other agencies to run facial recognition for them. washingtonpost.com

Local DeFlock chapter DeFlock Corona is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Local DeFlock chapter DeFlock Elk Grove is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Local DeFlock chapter DeFlock NCCA is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Local DeFlock chapter DeFlock Rancho Cordova is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Local DeFlock chapter DeFlock Vallejo is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Local DeFlock chapter DeFlock Woodland is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Local DeFlock chapter DeFlock Yuba-Sutter is organizing against ALPR surveillance in Yuba and Sutter counties.

Local group Pasadena Privacy is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Residents sued the police chief over alleged Flock camera mass surveillance.

Removed all 110 Flock cameras when the contract expired, after audit logs showed searches on behalf of ICE, then replaced them with 50 Axon cameras under stricter data controls. Privately owned Flock cameras around the city remain.

Local group Eyes Off Colorado is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Local group NoCo Privacy is organizing against ALPR surveillance in northern Colorado.

Local DeFlock chapter DeFlock Vegas is organizing against ALPR surveillance.

Council voted to shut down four Flock cameras four months into the pilot and not renew, citing data privacy and sanctuary-law compliance. The police department is now eyeing its existing Axon contract as a replacement, with no public input planned.

Turned off its Flock cameras after public pressure, part of an Oregon and Washington wave.

City council paused the Flock cameras over fears the data could be used for immigration enforcement.

Terminated its Flock program after a camera was reactivated without authorization, following a months-long campaign by Eyes Off Eugene.

Ended its Flock agreement before the cameras went live.

Portland passed the broadest ban in the country, prohibiting facial recognition by city government and by private businesses in places of public accommodation.

On June 24, 2026, the Mount Vernon City Council voted 4-1 to turn off the city's six Flock Safety automated license plate reader cameras, whose contract was set to expire in November. The move followed organized public opposition, including a roughly 490-signature petition from Indivisible Skagit and comments raising concerns about immigration enforcement and a growing surveillance state; the mayor did not dispute the outcome but objected that the vote was taken without advance notice on the agenda while two council members were absent.

Turned off its Flock cameras after public pressure, part of an Oregon and Washington wave.

Uninstalled 15 cameras and canceled the pilot program after roughly 200 residents rallied against it.

City Council voted 5-0 to suspend the Flock ALPR program pending review, after a council recommendation and several ICE arrests in the city.

Council voted unanimously to end the contract before any cameras were installed.

Became the first Washington city to cancel an active Flock contract; the police chief found out-of-state agencies on the network after the cameras went live.

King County became the first county in the US to ban its agencies from using facial-recognition technology.