The tide seems to be turning against the use of the massive number of flock cameras in the U.S. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said this week that the rapid spread of Flock Safety's automated license plate reader cameras has become "out of control," adding a powerful new voice to a growing national backlash against the surveillance technology.
In Vermont, the town of Manchester voted against installing them. The city of Houston is disconnecting some of theirs, and a new scandal exploded in Kentucky when an investigation discovered that a policeman used the information to follow his exgirlfriend. The man has been arrested. Similar cases have been discovered in at least four more states.
Speaking at Florida International University in Miami, DeSantis said he supports law enforcement but warned that the state must not create a surveillance system that tracks people's movements without adequate limits. He said his administration will review how Florida agencies use the cameras and examine New Hampshire's restrictive approach to license plate reader data as a possible model, according to reports by The Wall Street Journal and Florida Politics.
"I think these cameras, the license plate readers, I think it's out of control," DeSantis said.
The remarks come as Tempe, Arizona, announced that it had turned off its Flock camera system, canceled its contract with the company, and decided against replacing it with another automated license plate reader vendor.
Tempe officials said monthly audits found no misuse inside the city's police department. Still, they concluded that the possibility of misuse outweighed the system's benefits, according to KTAR News. The city had previously stopped automatic sharing of its data with other law enforcement agencies and launched a public transparency portal amid growing concerns over privacy and access.
Tempe has turned off its Flock automated license plate reader system and will end its contract with the company. The cameras are no longer collecting license plate data, and Tempe will not seek another company to replace the system.
— City of Tempe, AZ (@Tempegov) August 26, 2026
While the cameras have helped Tempe Police… pic.twitter.com/sFqfpOPiqd
The decision represents a sharper reversal than Tempe's move earlier this month, when it opted out of Flock's nationwide data-sharing network while maintaining its local camera program. At the time, the city said Arizona agencies could still request information through a formal process. Councilmember Bobby Nichols, who had pushed for an end to the contract, warned that data accessible to agencies in other cities could create an opening for immigration enforcement use. ABC15 reported on Tempe's earlier restrictions.
The Florida governor's comments and Tempe's decision reflect a changing political reality for Flock, whose cameras collect photographs and searchable records of passing vehicles. The company says its technology assists police in investigations and helps locate missing people. Flock also says local agencies control their own data and that ICE has no direct access to its systems or cameras.
But critics argue that the network has created a vast database of drivers, including people not suspected of crimes, while offering too few legal restrictions on sharing, retention and officer access.
In Florida, that unease has already moved from community meetings into statewide politics. Leon County commissioners unanimously pulled a proposed $440,000 expansion of Flock cameras in July following public opposition. St. Petersburg officials are also facing calls to revisit the city's $730,250 contract for more than 50 cameras, while activists in Tampa Bay have organized protests and public meetings over the program. Axios reported that the regional backlash is growing.
Concerns around immigration enforcement are particularly potent in Florida. A 2025 investigation by WUSF found that Florida Highway Patrol troopers had used Flock's system more than 250 times in searches tied to immigration enforcement. Flock has said it does not contract with ICE and that federal agencies were removed from its nationwide lookup network in 2025, but local agencies may still decide whether to establish authorized sharing relationships.
Arizona has become an especially visible test case. In addition to Tempe, Surprise canceled its contract and asked Flock to remove 28 cameras after a routine audit uncovered an anomaly and led to an investigation involving an officer. Chandler will not renew its contract after an audit flagged potential employee misuse, while Goodyear is investigating possible misuse by an officer. Pinal County will allow its agreement to expire, with Sheriff Ross Teeple citing potential Fourth Amendment concerns.
Elsewhere, cities and counties in Wisconsin, Texas, Connecticut, Ohio, Colorado, New York and Massachusetts have paused, canceled or declined to renew Flock agreements. California lawmakers are considering stricter limits on access and retention, while Washington state enacted new automated license plate reader safeguards this year.
The issue has also reached Capitol Hill. Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican who chairs a Senate Judiciary subcommittee, opened an investigation Tuesday into Flock's collection, retention and dissemination of data. He is seeking records on accuracy, misuse, security and agreements with local governments. Axios obtained the senator's letter.
For now, DeSantis has not called for a statewide ban. But his warning that the cameras may be "out of control" puts Florida, one of Flock's largest and most politically consequential markets, squarely in the middle of a national reckoning over whether public-safety technology has moved faster than the rules meant to govern it.
