Syracuse residents got closure this week in the city’s monthslong breakup with Flock Safety. The company on Wednesday confirmed that it had removed all of its 13 license plate readers from city property. The removal of Flock’s devices marks the end of a saga beginning eight months ago, when Syracuse Common Councilors Corey Williams and Jimmy Monto in November first considered legislation to block Flock’s access to city streets. Flock Safety spokesperson Paris Lewbel said in a message to Central Current that Flock Safety’s tools help solve serious crimes, and the city’s decision to remove the Flock license plate readers will “move public safety backwards.” Syracuse lawmakers in February approved a new contract with Axon Enterprise for license plate readers and in March revoked Flock Safety’s permissions to operate on city streets. The March revocation did not terminate the city’s contract with Flock, instead ordering the company to cease operations and remove its hardware from the city rights-of-way by May 26. The company left the readers on Syracuse property weeks past that legislatively imposed deadline The Syracuse Police Department continued using those readers until June 19, only unplugging the readers after Central Current began asking whether the readers were still active. Williams on Wednesday celebrated the news that Flock had removed its readers from city property, saying “we have been waiting for this day.” “I’m glad that they are gone, but I’m not thrilled that anyone is using them,” Monto said. “I think that anyone who takes a look at their practices will come to the decision that maybe they should rethink being in business with them.” Syracuse joined dozens of other cities in ending its agreement with Flock Safety.  The company has amassed contracts with more than 5,000 law enforcement agencies, through which it now maintains over 100,000 automatic license plate readers. The artificial intelligence-powered scanners record 20 billion vehicle scans a month, but less than 1% of those vehicles are linked to any crime.  The data collected by Flock’s readers have proven valuable to federal immigration agents, who have sought through different measures to access license plate reader data for immigration enforcement. In Syracuse, a mistake by a single officer connected Syracuse to Flock’s national network for nearly a year. That inadvertent opt-in allowed federal immigration agents to perform more than 2,000 immigration-related searches that included Syracuse drivers’ sensitive data. It’s not just vehicles; some police officers elsewhere in the country are using Flock cameras to track people, performing searches for identifying details about individuals (such as height or wardrobe) rather than a license plate. Cops are also using the tools to stalk people they don’t suspect of crimes, especially ex-girlfriends. The Institute of Justice in April reported it had identified 24 incidents of police officers using license plate readers to stalk women, with most of the incidents occurring since 2024. Even police chiefs have been caught using Flock to track women. Those abuses occurred when Flock’s systems worked properly.  An article published Monday by digital publication 404 Media outlined what happens when Flock’s cameras make mistakes: In Los Angeles, police officers performed 161 traffic stops on vehicles that Flock’s systems had errantly flagged as stolen, but the vehicles were not connected to any crime. Now, Los Angeles is renegotiating its Flock contract. Around the country, Americans are fighting to get Flock’s cameras off their streets. New York Assemblymember Pam Hunter introduced legislation to rein in license plate reader surveillance, though that bill won’t be considered until state lawmakers begin their next legislative session in 2027. In the meantime, Monto hopes that Flock’s customers don’t wait for action from elected officials and act swiftly to leave Flock behind.  Despite the council’s revocation and the removal of the 13 license plate readers from Syracuse property, Flock will remain in Syracuse through contracts with Syracuse University and Destiny USA. Those entities will continue to surveil Syracuse drivers.  When critics have characterized Flock Safety’s national license plate reader network as unconstitutional surveillance, Flock Safety’s Chief Executive Officer Garrett Langley has frequently argued the company’s tools are only approved and implemented through democratic processes in local governments.  The readers at SU and Destiny USA, however, are not subject to input from voters or approval by local lawmakers. Monto hopes SU and Destiny USA will research Flock Safety’s scandal-laden tenure and rethink allowing that company to continue operating in the city, he said. “I would implore Syracuse University to change vendors,” Monto said. “I would ask anyone that is using them to take a look at what they are doing.” The post Flock Safety removes its license plate readers, finalizing eight-month breakup with City of Syracuse appeared first on Central Current. ...read more read less