The Arlington County Board voted this afternoon (Tuesday) to discontinue the county’s use of Flock Safety cameras, sources tell ARLnow.
The vote came after a closed session to discuss the move. The county issued the following statement about the vote Tuesday night.
At the open session portion of its meeting on September 15, 2026, the Arlington County Board directed the County Manager to discontinue the use of county-leased Flock Safety technology and to begin the removal of all related equipment. This technology totals 41 Flock Safety cameras; 26 Falcon (License Plate Reader) models and 15 Condor (Point-Tilt-Zoom) models. A public update will be provided at the Board’s upcoming recessed meeting on Tuesday, September 22.
“This decision reflects concerns raised by Arlington residents regarding the use of Flock technology,” said Chair Matt de Ferranti “While Arlington has maintained strong safeguards to prevent the abuse of this technology throughout its use by the County, and there has been no report of misuse to date, the County Board takes seriously our obligation to maintain our community’s trust. The Board, the Manager, and our Public Safety staff will continue to evaluate the tools and technologies we use to ensure they align with the values and expectations of Arlington’s residents.”
In connection with this decision, the County will take the following steps:
Removal of Equipment
The County will request the removal of all Flock Safety cameras installed on public property within 14 business days of this announcement, though the process may extend beyond that timeframe as logistics require. Flock cameras installed on private property are not subject to County oversight and are unaffected by this decision.
Data Retention and Disposal
The County has directed that all data not required for active criminal investigations be deleted in accordance with applicable contractual, legal, and operational requirements.
It’s not yet clear how the county will unwind its contract with the surveillance company.
ACPD has 41 Flock devices in Arlington — 26 license plate readers and 15 pan-tilt-zoom cameras — the department recently told NBC 4.
ARLnow first reported the cameras’ arrival in October 2024, after tipsters spotted devices bearing the Flock Safety logo on traffic signal poles along Fairfax Drive in Ballston. The system went fully live that January, at a cost of $106,250 plus a $93,000 annual fee covering maintenance, data security and customer service.
Unlike the county’s older plate readers, in use since 2012, the Flock cameras capture vehicle make, model, bumper stickers and damage. ACPD has said the cameras are not used for traffic enforcement and that data is deleted after 30 days unless it relates to a criminal investigation.
The department never formally presented the program at a County Board meeting. Selecting Flock “ultimately was an administrative decision,” county spokesperson David Barrera told ARLnow in January 2025, though he said the Board was briefed on the reasons and had set aside funding for cameras and related technology in 2023.
Scrutiny of the technology has sharpened locally in recent months.
Arlington resident Desiree Lomer-Clarke started TikTok and Instagram accounts in July documenting where the county’s cameras are installed. There’s also an affiliated website, DeFlock Nova, encouraging residents “to contact your local county board or city officials and demand they cut ties with these tracking networks.”
Signs — like one in Clarendon with the words “AI spy cam” — have recently appeared in parts of Arlington, pointing out places where the cameras are installed.
In Alexandria, Mayor Alyia Gaskins said this month that she does not think there is a role for Flock in that city, and D.C.’s police union has asked the D.C. Council to regulate the technology after internal affairs investigators used it to look into officers.
At the state level, Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) called calls for a ban “overly simplistic,” saying she would work with lawmakers on privacy protections instead. A Republican state senator plans to introduce ban legislation in the next General Assembly session.
Arlington’s move comes amid a national backlash that has turned Flock into a 2026 campaign issue. Candidates in both parties are running on bans, funding cuts and warrant requirements.
In Pennsylvania, Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) and his Republican challenger, state Treasurer Stacy Garrity, have both said they support a statewide ban. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) of Florida this month ordered automated plate readers removed from state highway rights-of-way.
President Donald Trump has said his administration is studying the issue. Flock says its cameras run in 6,000 communities, in every state but Alaska.
The company has pushed back on the criticism, saying its technology has helped “solve approximately one million crimes” and reunite roughly 10,000 missing people with their families.
Critics should “work with the communities using this technology to decide what rules should govern it,” Flock vice president of communications MoMo Zhou told the Associated Press, rather than ban a tool she said is making communities safer.
Flock also came up at a Sept. 8 congressional forum hosted by the Arlington County Civic Federation.
Scott McCaffrey, Dan Egitto and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
