At Least 56 US Cities Drop Flock Cameras, Replacing Many With Axon ALPRs

3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Aug 20

At least 56 municipalities have deactivated, canceled or rejected Flock Safety contracts this year, but several quickly replaced the license-plate readers with Axon systems instead of ending the surveillance.
Longmont, Colorado let its Flock contract lapse in December, then voted unanimously in March to approve Axon cameras with added data-protection rules and a one-year review, though the contract is still not finalized.
Axon, a $48 billion police-tech company, has replaced Flock in at least seven municipalities across five states, pitching tighter privacy controls while benefiting from Flock’s backlash.
Denver and Syracuse also swapped Flock for Axon, while activists argue the core problem remains warrantless mass collection of drivers’ movements regardless of suspicion.
The broader fight has shifted from one vendor to data governance: some cities are still covering uncollected Flock cameras with trash bags, while advocates push retention limits, warrants and local oversight boards.