Plymouth Police Chief Manually Disconnects Flock Cameras After Vendor Ignores Cancellation
AI-generated image · Bay Street Wire
Minnesota officials took physical action to disable surveillance hardware after Flock Safety failed to respond to contract termination demands.
Plymouth Police Chief Eric Fadden physically disconnected power cords for Flock Safety cameras after the company ignored the city's demands to remove the equipment, as Tom's Hardware first reported. According to the outlet, the Plymouth City Council voted unanimously in September 2026 to end its contract with the vendor.
Chief Fadden told The Drive that the city suspended user accounts on September 23 and sent formal cancellation notices via email and US Mail. Despite these efforts and consultation with the City Attorney’s Office, Fadden stated that the city received no response from Flock Safety's corporate or legal departments for over a week, prompting the manual shutdown to ensure the devices stopped recording license plates.
The move comes amid broader privacy controversies surrounding Flock, which utilizes AI to identify vehicles by make, model, color, and stickers in addition to license plates. Tom's Hardware reports that more than 300,000 Flock cameras are installed across the U.S. The outlet further notes that Dayton, Minnesota, has also paused its program after Flock allegedly proceeded with a camera replacement work order despite being instructed not to do so.
Additional controversies cited by Tom's Hardware include the arrest of officers for system misuse and an incident where Plymouth City Police mistakenly "ambushed" a car reviewer due to an administrative error originating in California. There have also been reports of motorists being stopped because AI algorithms flagged their travel history as "suspicious."