Fort Collins council votes to end Flock camera contract
Fort Collins City Council approved ending the city’s contract with Flock Safety and removing the company’s automated license-plate-reader cameras, changing how Fort Collins Police Services collects and retains vehicle-location data.
The action came on June 16, 2026, after months of debate over Flock’s data retention, information sharing and the city’s broader rules for police surveillance technology. The council’s action agenda included motions to cancel the contract and remove the cameras “as expeditiously as possible.”
The reported council vote was 6-1. The official action-agenda materials identify the contract cancellation and camera removal as council actions, but do not state the final vote tally or establish when the removal work will be complete.
What the council approved
Flock Safety’s system uses automated license-plate-reader cameras to collect vehicle-related information. The council’s decision means the city intends to end its contract with the company rather than continue under the existing arrangement.
The removal direction is also important because it does not mean the cameras had already been taken down on June 16. The council called for removal as quickly as possible, but the approved materials do not specify a final date for every camera to be removed.
The action changes the technology available to Fort Collins Police Services for collecting and retaining vehicle-location data. It also represents a citywide policy shift involving public safety, privacy and municipal contracting.
How the decision developed
The issue was not resolved in a single meeting. The city’s council planning calendar identifies a May 12, 2026, work session focused on police surveillance technology. That discussion preceded the June 16 action-agenda item on Flock retention and data sharing.
The debate centered on how long information collected by the system should be retained, who could share or access it, and what governance rules should apply to surveillance technology used in Fort Collins. The materials do not establish that the council found Flock data had been used unlawfully.
That distinction matters. The council’s action is a decision about the city’s contract and surveillance-technology policy. It is not, based on the approved materials, a finding that the company or its data practices violated the law.
What happens next
Surveillance-technology governance remains on the city’s policy agenda. The council planning calendar lists a July 28 work session on a surveillance-technology governance policy framework, indicating that the June contract decision is part of continuing policy work rather than the end of the discussion.
The next practical questions are how quickly the Flock contract can be canceled, when the cameras will be removed and what rules will govern any future surveillance technology used by the city. The approved sources do not provide an implementation completion date or describe a replacement system.
For Fort Collins residents, the immediate consequence is a change in the city’s approach to automated vehicle-location data. The council has directed an end to the Flock arrangement, while the timing of the physical camera removal and the city’s longer-term governance framework remain to be settled.
Sources
- Fort Collins City Council Meeting Action Agenda, City of Fort Collins
- Council Agenda Planning Calendar, City of Fort Collins
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