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The Plymouth, Minnesota City Council voted almost unanimously to cancel its Flock automatic license plate reader contract, three months after a wrongful police stop tracked via Flock cameras made national news. The mayor was the lone holdout. Timing for camera removal and any replacement system remains unclear.
The Plymouth, Minnesota City Council voted nearly unanimously on Tuesday to cancel its contract with Flock Safety, the maker of automated license plate recognition cameras, three months after a wrongful police stop that relied on the system drew national attention. The vote, first reported by KARE11 News, the local NBC affiliate, was 6-1, with Mayor Jeff Wosje the only holdout on the seven-member council.
The council decision came after a roughly three-hour meeting that followed a two-hour study session devoted to Flock, according to Doug Maltby, a reader of The Drive who attended. During the study session, Plymouth Police Chief Fadden presented the department’s use of Flock cameras, arguing the system helps solve crimes and keeps the public safe. Maltby said the chief came prepared with a slide addressing a wrongful stop on June 28, anticipating it would come up during questioning — and it did.
The June incident involved a writer for The Drive and his wife, who reported that four officers in squad cars stopped them after the couple had been tracked with Flock cameras for days. That stop, which the writer described as a wrongful ambush, drew national news coverage. According to the original report, the police department confirmed that Plymouth no longer shares its Flock data with other west metro police departments; it had previously shared data with roughly 36 other departments. Maltby said Chief Fadden’s stated reasoning for ending data sharing was that some northern Minnesota counties had been searched for immigration purposes, which gave the city pause.
Mayor Wosje, the dissenting vote, defended keeping the system. “I know people have concern, but I’m weighing this against what we all talked about — the ability to keep our residents safe and catch the bad guys — versus basically the bad PR that Flock has,” Wosje said, according to MPR News. He added that he would side with the police department on having the tool available.
Political Cost of Surveillance Misuse
The vote is one of the clearest examples to date of a U.S. city canceling a contract with a major license plate recognition vendor in the wake of a specific, high-profile misuse. It signals that publicized wrongful stops can carry direct contractual consequences for surveillance vendors and their municipal clients, not just reputational ones.
The decision also lands at a moment of broader scrutiny for Flock. Less than two months after the June stop, Flock CEO Garrett Langley acknowledged the company’s failures that put innocent people at risk and announced changes, according to The Drive. Plymouth’s cancellation suggests those changes did not fully reassure at least one city leadership body. The vote also intersects with growing concern over data sharing between police departments, including reports that Flock data had been searched for immigration purposes in other parts of Minnesota — a use case that alarmed council members and contributed to the city’s earlier decision to curtail sharing.
Locally, the vote sets up a political dividing line: Wosje faces re-election in November against Deputy Mayor Clark Gregor, who voted with the majority to cancel the contract.
From June Stop to Council Vote
The chain of events began on June 28, when — according to the affected driver’s first-person account in The Drive — four officers in squad cars stopped him and his wife after tracking their vehicle with Flock cameras over several days. The stop was wrongful, and coverage of the incident spread nationally, putting the Minneapolis suburb of Plymouth in the spotlight.
In the weeks that followed, Flock’s CEO publicly admitted the company’s failures that exposed innocent drivers to risk and announced corrective changes. Meanwhile, Plymouth quietly scaled back its regional data-sharing arrangements, dropping participation with approximately 36 west metro departments after learning that counties in northern Minnesota had been searched for immigration purposes.
Tuesday’s council meeting put the Flock contract on the formal docket. Despite the police chief’s prepared defense of the system — including crime-solving statistics and a slide specifically addressing the June stop — six of seven council members voted to cancel.
“The company admitted failures that put innocent people at risk and announced changes.”
— Flock CEO Garrett Langley, as reported by The Drive
Unresolved Questions on Removal
Several practical questions remain open following the vote. It is unclear how long it will take for the Flock cameras to be physically removed from Plymouth streets. It is also unknown whether the city will adopt a replacement automatic license plate reader system from another vendor — The Drive’s report named Axon and Leonardo as potential alternatives — or whether Plymouth will operate without the technology altogether.
Additionally, the full scope of what Chief Fadden presented during the closed study session — including any statistics on crimes solved with Flock’s help — has not been publicly detailed beyond attendee accounts. The precise contractual terms of the cancellation, including any financial penalties or wind-down timeline, have not been disclosed.
Cameras, Contracts, and November Election
Watch for the city to announce a removal timeline for the existing Flock cameras and any procurement process for a replacement system, if one is pursued. Vendors such as Axon and Leonardo could compete for the contract, though no decision has been made public.
The November mayoral election between Wosje and Gregor will test whether the Flock vote becomes a defining local issue, given that the two candidates split on the decision. Broader scrutiny of Flock’s practices — including its handling of wrongful alerts and its data-sharing networks — is likely to continue nationally, following the CEO’s admission of company failures in August.
Key Questions
What did the Plymouth City Council decide?
The council voted 6-1 on Tuesday to cancel the city’s contract with Flock Safety, the vendor of automated license plate recognition cameras. Mayor Jeff Wosje was the only member to vote against cancellation.
Why did Plymouth cancel the Flock contract?
The decision followed a wrongful police stop on June 28 that relied on Flock tracking and drew national coverage. Concerns also included reports that Flock data had been searched for immigration purposes in northern Minnesota counties, which led Plymouth to end data sharing with roughly 36 west metro departments before the vote.
Will Plymouth replace Flock with another camera system?
It is not yet known. The Drive reported that alternatives such as Axon or Leonardo could take Flock’s place, but no replacement decision has been announced, and the timeline for removing existing cameras is also unclear.
How did Flock respond to the wrongful stop?
According to The Drive, Flock CEO Garrett Langley admitted less than two months after the incident that the company’s failures had put innocent people at risk and announced changes to its systems.
What does this mean for Flock nationally?
Plymouth appears to be a prominent example of a city dropping Flock after a publicized misuse, but it is one municipality’s decision. The vote adds to ongoing national scrutiny of license plate recognition networks and cross-department data sharing, though the broader impact on Flock’s other contracts remains to be seen.
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