Centerton City Council terminates Flock Safety camera contract

12 August 2026. [AI first draft. Verify every fact against the source before publishing.]

The Centerton City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday, August 12, 2026, to terminate its contract with Flock Safety, the provider of license plate reader cameras stationed at city entrances. The decision followed public comment from residents and non-residents opposed to the surveillance technology. Police Chief Cody Harper told the council that the 16-camera system, installed more than two years ago with license plate readers added earlier in 2026, had not delivered significant benefits. Harper acknowledged that some cameras were not operational and described the department's use of the technology as ongoing and imperfect, though he stated the system was designed only to alert police to wanted individuals and registered offenders, not to track residents within the city.

Citizens raised concerns about data collection, storage, and access. Residents questioned whether Flock or other agencies could track their movements and who controlled the personal information captured. Council Member Joshua Hagan reported reviewing Flock's contract and expressed uncertainty about data ownership and access protocols. These concerns aligned with positions taken by the American Civil Liberties Union, which has recently urged communities to reject Flock's products, citing the technology's ability to record vehicle details and upload them to nationwide databases accessible to law enforcement agencies with limited oversight. Flock has countered that individual agencies control what information they share within its network.

Centerton joins several other Arkansas cities taking similar action. Police chiefs in Pea Ridge, Cabot, and Mayflower announced cessation of Flock participation in July 2026 following resident opposition. Bentonville's City Council heard public comment against the cameras on the same Tuesday but took no action. Flock operates in more than 6,000 U.S. communities, though pushback has intensified in recent months. Residents can track their own city's camera contracts by reviewing council meeting minutes, requesting police department technology agreements, and monitoring public comment periods scheduled for contract discussions.

Read the original reporting: nwaonline.com.