Technology1 min read

A City Canceled Flock's Contract. Flock Ignored It. Police Chief Unplugged Them

By · Published by Everything Blog

In short

The Plymouth City Council formally voted on Sept. 22 to terminate its automated license plate reader program, prompting the police department to immediately suspend local user accounts. Despite formal cancellation letters sent by the city attorney via email and standard mail, Flock Safety's corporate leadership offered no response for more than a week. Police Chief Eric Fadden subsequently ordered staff to physically disconnect the power cords to guarantee the devices were no longer recording. Because the cameras remain company property under a subscription agreement, the city is still waiting for the vendor to provide a timeline to remove the hardware.

Key points

  • City staff suspended all local user accounts the morning after the council voted to disco…: City staff suspended all local user accounts the morning after the council voted to discontinue the vendor agreement.
  • Physical disconnection of the cameras was deemed necessary to guarantee the inactive devi…: Physical disconnection of the cameras was deemed necessary to guarantee the inactive devices stopped capturing vehicle license plates.
  • The city continues to seek a definitive hardware removal timeline because the installed c…: The city continues to seek a definitive hardware removal timeline because the installed cameras remain the vendor's property.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

Four months ago four police officers in their squad cars wrongfully ambushed my wife and me after tracking us with Flock cameras for days. A month ago Tuesday our city council voted to cancel its Flock contract. Today, the Flock cameras are still installed around the city. Flock’s refusing to acknowledge the canceled contract.

Plymouth Police Chief Eric Fadden told The Drive, “As you’re well aware, the City Council voted to discontinue the use of Flock ALPRs at the Sept. 22 meeting. On the morning of Sept. 23, we suspended all Plymouth user Flock accounts and notified Flock Safety of the Council’s decision. We followed up with a formal letter of cancellation via US Mail and email after consulting with our City Attorney’s Office.”

Fadden said, “We did not hear any reply from Flock Safety Corporate or Legal, other than some communication with our local representative.”

Flock’s silence and refusal to comply with the canceled contract forced the Police Chief to take matters into his own hands. “After hearing nothing for more than a week, I directed our staff to…

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