Henrico County: Local crews strip Flock cameras after vendor defaults

Residents of Henrico County, Virginia, saw the automatic license plate readers vanish from local streets on Saturday. County crews physically dismantled more than 120 Flock cameras after the private vendor did not remove the equipment itself.

Henrico County Manager John Vithoulkas confirmed the removal work took place over the weekend. Officials stated they had to take down the cameras personally because Flock failed to fulfill its contractual obligation to do so.

The county ended its use of the technology last month over privacy concerns. Under the agreement, the cameras were supposed to be gone within two weeks of the contract ending. That deadline passed without the hardware being removed.

County leaders said the poles supporting the cameras remain in place. They noted that removing the poles is still Flock’s responsibility, not the county's.

In a social media post on Oct. 6, the county announced that police had cut ties with the system by mid-October. The decision followed conversations with other leaders, residents, and experts regarding data access and privacy.

Rev. Roscoe D. Cooper III, chairman of the Henrico Board of Supervisors, described the move as a preventative measure. He noted there was no evidence Henrico police misused the system. "Rather be proactive than reactive," Cooper said. "And we’re aware of the conversations that are occurring nationally, as well as on the state level. And we just, again, felt that this was the right time to make this decision."