Flock Safety ignores city's exit plea, forcing police chief to manually pull the plug
Key takeaways
- Plymouth city council voted to cancel Flock contract; company ignored termination request for 30+ days
- Police chief manually disconnected camera power as workaround after hearing nothing from vendor
- Growing pattern of cities struggling to exit Flock Safety agreements despite formal decisions
Plymouth, Minnesota's city council formally voted to terminate its Flock Safety contract in September, only to discover the company wouldn't acknowledge the decision. After more than a month without any response from Flock, the city remained stuck with active surveillance cameras it no longer wanted. Police Chief Eric Fadden grew frustrated by the silence and took direct action, ordering staff to physically disconnect the power cords from the cameras to ensure they stopped operating.
Flock Safety's unresponsiveness mirrors a growing pattern: other municipalities are also discovering how hard it is to exit contracts with the automated license-plate reader company. Plymouth's experience highlights a tension between municipal oversight and vendor responsiveness, particularly when safety infrastructure decisions remain on hold while business machinery continues running.
The bigger picture
Flock's silence strategy creates legal and operational headaches for cities trying to assert control over their own surveillance infrastructure. As more jurisdictions weigh privacy concerns against crime-fighting claims, a vendor's unwillingness to honor cancellations becomes a credibility liability. Other ALPR providers and city procurement teams will watch whether Flock faces regulatory pressure or contract language reforms that make exit cleaner.
We're tracking this because it exposes a real gap in how cities negotiate with surveillance contractors. When a vendor ignores formal termination votes, it raises questions about who actually controls public safety tech. Plymouth's forced disconnect is a flashpoint—and probably not an isolated case.
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