Flock keeps ignoring requests to cancel its contracts

Flock Safety is facing pushback from municipal clients after repeatedly failing to remove its automated license plate reading cameras following contract terminations, as detailed in The Verge's report. In several jurisdictions across Minnesota and Illinois, cities and educational institutions that formally voted to end their business relationships discovered that camera hardware remained mounted, powered, and in some instances actively restored to service without municipal consent. The vendor's nonresponsiveness and operational lapses have forced local officials to manually intervene, cutting power cords and issuing public warnings regarding unauthorized contractor activity inside their city limits.

This comprehensive report examines the documented contract cancellation disputes between local governments and Flock Safety, detailing the specific operational breakdowns in Plymouth, Dayton, and Elgin. It is written for municipal administrators, law enforcement leaders, city council members, and civic privacy advocates evaluating automated surveillance agreements and vendor offboarding procedures. Readers will find an exhaustive accounting of the timelines, local policy responses, hardware disconnections, and vendor maintenance actions that have unfolded across affected jurisdictions as public agencies attempt to sever ties with the automated license plate reader provider.

Flock keeps ignoring requests to cancel its: what actually changed

Local governments attempting to offboard Flock Safety hardware are discovering that formal termination votes no longer guarantee that roadside surveillance cameras will be promptly uninstalled. In Plymouth, Minnesota, the city council voted in September 2026 to terminate its official contract with the automated license plate reader vendor. Rather than initiating equipment decommissioning, the vendor provided no formal acknowledgment or operational response to the city's cancellation notice for more than an entire month, leaving the camera infrastructure fully mounted and positioned along public streets.

The standoff escalated when municipal authorities determined that administrative inaction required physical intervention on public rights-of-way. Frustrated by the total lack of corporate communication, Plymouth Police Chief Eric Fadden took direct action by sending municipal personnel to cut the operational link to the devices. Fadden explained that after hearing nothing from the vendor for over a full week, he directed municipal staff to pull the power cords directly from the units so the public could be completely certain that the equipment ceased recording passing vehicles.

Flock keeps ignoring requests to cancel its: how it works

The operational mechanics of decommissioning Flock Safety camera installations involve strict removal timetables that the vendor has repeatedly failed to maintain in practice. When Dayton, Minnesota, requested the removal of its automated license plate readers, the vendor initially acknowledged the termination notice and stated that field crews would require a window of up to 60 days to remove the mounted equipment from city property. Such extended removal periods leave camera enclosures standing idle along public thoroughfares long after formal city authorization has formally expired.

The process broke down further when corporate field dispatch systems operated in direct contradiction to municipal directives. On September 17, 2026, the Dayton Police Department discovered that the vendor had generated an internal maintenance work order for its local camera network. Although city officials immediately contacted the vendor on September 18 to confirm that the surveillance program was officially on hold and prohibited any work orders, contractor personnel still entered the city and reconnected two separate cameras, returning them to active service without permission.

Flock keeps ignoring requests to cancel its: why it matters now

These recurring equipment controversies highlight a serious governance vulnerability for municipal governments that sign hardware-as-a-service contracts for civic surveillance technology. When an external private contractor retains exclusive physical access and field operational control over monitoring hardware installed across public poles and roads, a city council's legislative authority can be undermined. City administrators are discovering that terminating a service agreement does not automatically halt the operational footprint of network-connected optical sensors installed across their municipal boundaries.

Unauthorized camera activations also generate acute legal and civic liabilities regarding data collection practices and community trust. When cameras remain mounted indefinitely or are reactivated by technicians following an explicit legislative cancellation vote, municipal leaders cannot verify whether plate numbers, vehicle travels, and motorist movements are being logged. This reality has forced local police departments to publish detailed public notices explaining that unexpected camera operations were executed by contractor personnel against the direct instructions of elected officials and police administrators.

Flock keeps ignoring requests to cancel its: who is affected

The breakdown in termination protocols impacts multiple communities across the Midwest, extending beyond single municipal boundaries to encompass colleges and neighboring towns. Approximately 20 miles up the road from Plymouth, the city of Dayton experienced direct disruptions when unauthorized maintenance work reactivated hardware that was supposed to be decommissioned. Meanwhile, Elgin Community College in Illinois endured a similar dispute after administrative leadership sought to terminate its surveillance contract, only to find that the vendor refused to remove cameras and actively uncovered camera units on campus.

Broader law enforcement communities and major metropolitan areas are also reconsidering their relationships with automated license plate reader providers amid shifting vendor landscapes. While some jurisdictions attempt to navigate drawn-out extraction processes, other prominent regions such as Los Angeles have moved to replace Flock Safety hardware entirely with alternative license plate reader vendors. In smaller communities, police leaders like Chief Fadden have been thrust into operational roles requiring hands-on disconnection of utility cords to prevent unauthorized data recording.

Flock keeps ignoring requests to cancel its: what to watch

Observers and municipal officials must monitor whether Flock Safety formalizes transparent, auditable removal protocols for cities exercising their contractual termination clauses. While the company did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding its nonresponsiveness and unauthorized field operations, municipal leaders require firm assurances that cancellation dates will be respected. Future developments will reveal whether local governments impose stricter contractual termination penalties or legal escrows to ensure hardware removal happens promptly without requiring police officers to climb utility poles.

Attention now turns to whether state regulators or local municipal leagues establish statutory guidelines governing orphaned civic surveillance hardware installed on public utility infrastructure. Watch for additional city councils to introduce mandatory equipment deactivation verification before contract payments conclude, preventing situations where devices linger for months without clear operational status. As peer jurisdictions observe the logistical friction encountered by Plymouth, Dayton, and Elgin Community College, public scrutiny of automated license plate reader vendor accountability will accelerate nationwide.