Flock's AI surveillance cameras are reportedly causing controversy in Dayton, Minnesota, after the company allegedly reinstalled two cameras despite explicit orders from the city to cease work. Dayton's local government posted on Facebook explaining that the Police Department was made aware of a maintenance work order on September 17, and the city responded the following day, stating the program had been put on hold and no work orders were to be completed. Despite this, Flock reportedly reinstalled the cameras without authorization from the city.
Dayton’s city council had previously voted to suspend the automatic license plate reader program and the Flock cameras on August 25, following community concerns regarding privacy and data misuse. The controversy surrounding Flock has been noted nationwide, including an instance where a car reviewer was mistakenly pulled over due to a camera misreading tags. Furthermore, in a separate incident, Flock’s chief information security officer allegedly falsely assured the Oshkosh City Council that Flock did not create a heat map of individual license plates, despite the system possessing such a feature.
Prior to the official suspension, local media reported that Flock cameras in the city had already been broken and vandalized, leading police to disable and remove the cameras on August 20 to prevent further damage. The latest dispute arose after Flock submitted the offending work order on September 17, nearly a full month after the program's suspension. Dayton citizens reported spotting the two Flock cameras, leading to the September 29 Facebook post, and the local government stated that the Dayton Police Department had been informed and ordered to remove the cameras.
It remains unclear whether Flock defiantly ignored the orders or if instructions had not reached the personnel responsible for installing the cameras, an issue that could negatively impact Flock's reputation.
