Overview
- Local governments have accelerated cancellations of Flock Safety contracts, with advocacy trackers showing a sharp spike in terminations during August 2026 as communities reassess shared camera networks.
- A Pflugerville public‑records disclosure showed hundreds of outside agencies accessed the city’s Flock database 1.6 million times over six months, prompting the city council to cancel its contract and cover the cameras.
- Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered state agencies to stop using state funds for Flock cameras, a move that puts millions in grant money and large city deployments under review and could limit future purchases.
- Reporting and code reviews detail Flock’s AI tools — OS Investigate (formerly Nightshift) and Nova — that link plate reads with metadata, arrest records and dispatch logs to surface travel patterns and rank associates, raising Fourth Amendment and due‑process concerns.
- Flock has cut default retention for new customers to seven days, added required case‑code and audit features, and issued apologies, but lawmakers, civil‑liberties groups and officials say only laws, independent audits or warrant rules will reliably curb misuse and preserve privacy.