--- title: "Cities Are Shredding Their AI Surveillance Contracts en Masse" description: "Over 30 cities have scrapped their contracts with the AI surveillance company Flock, as concerns over federal overreach grow." date: "2026-02-22" modified: "2026-02-22" authors: - name: "Joe Wilkins" job_title: "Correspondent" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins" url: "https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/ai-surveillance-flock-contracts" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Ethics" --- # Cities Are Shredding Their AI Surveillance Contracts en Masse ![Multiple white security cameras mounted on a blue wall, arranged in a grid pattern, all facing different directions. The image has a blue tint, giving it a cool, technological atmosphere.]() *Getty / Futurism* Since the start of 2025, at least 30 cities have canceled their contracts with Flock Safety, the AI surveillance company whose CEO wants to [end all crime]() within the decade by blanketing the country in ever-watchful security cameras. That startling figure comes [courtesy of *NPR*](), which reports that concerned activists are putting mounting pressure on cities to cut ties with the company. "We are seeing a lot more momentum," Will Freeman, a Colorado-based organizer who runs the website DeFlock.org, told the broadcaster. "I expect there to be more cities dropping Flock." The grassroots campaigns have successfully booted Flock from cities like Flagstaff, Arizona, Eugene Oregon, and Santa Cruz, California. "In the end, it was just clear that this wasn't going to be a technology that was going to be well received or that we could continue to use," Flagstaff mayor Becky Daggett told *NPR*, reflecting on [community outrage]() over the devices. DeFlock is an open-source web app designed to track license plate readers throughout the United States. While Flock is the biggest, it's not the only surveillance vendor tracked by DeFlock, which currently has over 77,000 AI license plate readers logged on its interactive map. On the surface, license plate readers might seem passive, a non-issue unless you're up to no good. Yet as DeFlock notes, they come with many hidden dangers to ordinary residents. License plate readers create detailed records of your location history, which have led to [wrongful arrests](), [racial profiling](), and [stalking]() by police officers. In one illustrative example from October, a Denver woman was [accused of stealing a package]() worth $25 after police, using Flock, determined that she had been driving nearby on the day the theft occurred. In the end, GPS data showed the woman had driven through the area without stopping, revealing that police had taken flawed data from the AI surveillance software as evidence enough to pursue charges. Opposition [against Flock]() has only flared since, especially as the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement under Donald Trump [weaponize AI surveillance tools]() to expand their dystopian crackdown on immigrants. **More on surveillance:** *[AI Surveillance Startup Caught Using Sweatshop Workers to Monitor US Residents]()* ## Author At Futurism, I focus on the intersection of technology and power — examining the economics, history, and politics behind today’s dystopian headlines. As a writer, I’m interested in topics ranging from AI’s impact on labor to startups nobody asked for. My prior work includes bylines in Jacobin, Verso, and Blue Labyrinths. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Forbes, The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Time, The Nation, Mother Jones, The Verge, and Wired. I grew up in Michigan, attending Central Michigan University as well as Ball State University, where I earned a master of music. I now live in Brooklyn with my girlfriend and our cat Ziti. On weekends, you can find me hunched over a cold pint arguing geopolitics with the other transplants. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()