Commentary: Olympia joins growing list of de-Flock victories, but looks forward

The community-driven movement to “DeFlock Olympia” has secured a significant win in the fight against AI-driven surveillance.

On Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025, after weeks of sustained and growing public pressure, the Olympia City Council voted to temporarily suspend the city’s contract with Flock Safety and halt all operations of its automated license plate reader (ALPR) camera network. By the morning of Wednesday, Dec. 3, cameras across the city had been covered with “hoods,” pending official removal. This step marks a suspension—not a permanent end—to the contract. Continued community pressure will be necessary to ensure the cameras are removed and never reinstalled.

This victory also marks a turning point in a broader effort. The DeFlock movement is also encouraging the city to evaluate the presence of privately operated Flock cameras installed at businesses such as Home Depot and Lowe’s. The group plans to advocate for a citywide policy discussion about banning this type of surveillance technology within Olympia, regardless of whether it is publicly or privately owned.

The need for regional solidarity remains critical. Communities in Shelton, Lacey, Tumwater, Tacoma and Aberdeen are facing similar surveillance expansions. As long as Flock cameras operate in neighboring cities, the network can still track the movements of people in Olympia and throughout the south sound. Many nearby police departments have weaker protections for ALPR data and may knowingly or unintentionally share information with federal agencies or hundreds of external networks. Olympia’s DeFlock movement encourages residents across the region to organize, collaborate and support efforts to remove these systems everywhere they appear.

While Olympia’s suspension is a significant milestone, it is only the first stage in a longer campaign to permanently remove AI surveillance technology from the south sound. Residents in Lacey, Tumwater, Shelton or Aberdeen who would like support in hosting a DeFlock informational event can reach out at deflockoly@proton.me.

Nearly 200 community members attended a counter-information rally outside Olympia City Hall on December 2 to demand this outcome. The rally combined research sharing, hot food, singing and chanting as the city council met inside to hear a presentation from the interim police chief. Olympia Police Department’s briefing promoted the supposed benefits of Flock’s system but also repeated several false or misleading claims. Community members countered these point-by-point with detailed, cited research.

Among OPD’s claims was the assertion that Flock data does not contain “personally identifiable information.” In reality, these cameras capture not only license plates and driving patterns, but bumper stickers, racks and dents. According to Flock’s own website, the AI powered microphones are expanding their recognition of sounds. Investigative reporting shows Flock cameras and AI are trained to detect license plates, vehicles and people, including clothing, and a leaked Flock patent mentions detecting “race.” Recent reporting has also revealed that Flock is building a massive “people search” tool by linking ALPR data with large consumer data-broker datasets — a direction that demonstrates how easily this infrastructure could evolve into something far more sweeping and alarming than what is currently advertised.

OPD also stated that “Footage is owned by OPD” and that “Flock Safety cannot access, use, or sell Olympia’s data.” However, Flock stores all footage on its own infrastructure, including its cloud, hosted by Amazon Web Services which is known for its massive profiteering from contracts with the Department of Homeland Security (Mijente). Flock has previously acknowledged back-door access programs, regardless of local policy, and its contract explicitly allows the company to turn over data “if legally required,” contradicting OPD’s claims. The ACLU has further documented how Flock combines ALPR data with wider commercial networks, showing that it is far from a simple “local crime-fighting tool” and instead part of an expansive private surveillance marketplace (ACLU).

OPD has claimed that data collected in Olympia is not shared outside Washington state. However, as a council member in Gig Harbor recently pointed out, many Washington cities already share their ALPR data with numerous agencies across and beyond state lines: “You sent some information I think about the City of Puyallup … I believe they belong to 593 networks. So … if we share data with Puyallup what’s to keep Puyallup from putting that data all over 593 networks?”

Gig Harbor ultimately rejected its Flock contract after council members raised concerns about potential ICE-related data sharing.

Public frustration with OPD’s presentation rose during the meeting, especially as the department moved into “success stories” while dismissing broader safety concerns. The crowd outside grew louder, prompting the mayor to clear the public from the room and continue the meeting behind closed doors. Residents were able to watch only through the Zoom stream, which remains publicly viewable. Despite labeling critics as “a small sliver” of the population and remarking that “Big Brother… it’s already here,” Mayor Payne’s cynical statements were contradicted by the large, diverse crowds of Olympians who have filled public comment at city hall throughout the past month.

The halting of Flock’s operations is a direct result of this sustained and organized community response. While the cameras are currently inactive, the DeFlock movement emphasizes that this is just the beginning. Removing AI-driven surveillance from Olympia — and from every community in the South Sound — will require ongoing vigilance, continued organizing and regional solidarity.

For resources or to organize a DeFlock info night in your community, contact deflockoly@proton.me.

-DeFlock Olympia