By The Epoch Times | Created at 2026-09-02 13:06:49 | Updated at 2026-09-02 14:02:15
1 hour ago
MARICOPA, Ariz.—Flock Safety cameras are drawing growing opposition in Arizona, with about 30 Maricopa residents protesting the technology on Sept. 1 and urging the City Council to end its use over privacy and free speech concerns.
“I’m asking you to do something very simple,” Gary Benedict of Maricopa told the seven council members during the public comment portion of the meeting. “Remove the Flock cameras from the city of Maricopa.”
Benedict told the meeting that a Flock camera is not simply a license plate reader but a means of profiling residents.
“Do not replace them with another system that provides the same type of AI mass surveillance,” Benedict said. “A license plate is just the beginning.”
Resident Kathleen Stevens told Maricopa City Council members that the cameras are a move in the wrong direction.
“It seems that the citizens are being forced into this kind of surveillance over them,” she said.
Arizona communities that have discontinued camera use, ended contracts, or allowed them to lapse include Tempe, Cave Creek, Chandler, and South Tucson.
Maricopa resident Daniel Behnke called Flock Safety cameras a form of government overreach.
“I like to call it the Wild West of surveillance, but we have a voice, and I hope the City Council listens,” Behnke told The Epoch Times. “I feel that once you’re doing surveillance of a city, you should have some input. I think there should be public forums.”
Pinal County Sheriff Ross Teeple said on Aug. 5 that his office would not renew its contract with Flock Group Inc. at the end of September. He cited Fourth Amendment concerns with the company’s automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras as the reason for the termination.
The Pinal County Board of Supervisors voted 4–1 on Aug. 12 to issue a notice of termination and end the county’s right-of-way agreement with the company, according to pinalcentral.com.
Maricopa resident Amber Rutan organized the Sept. 1 demonstration through social media after learning of the sheriff’s decision.
Julia Romero Gusse speaks out against automated license plate reader cameras during a public demonstration in Maricopa, Ariz., on Sept. 1, 2026. Allan Stein/The Epoch Times
“A lot of people were butting heads on the issue. There’s the one side that it helps police catch criminals. Then there is the other side that it’s government overstep,” Rutan said.
Rutan said she is concerned about how law enforcement will use the camera data despite assurances made “under the best of intentions.”
“Once this technology becomes established, you don’t know what’s going to be done with it,” she said. “Data can get into the wrong hands. Where are they going to store it?”
Jesse Martinez of Maricopa added, “People that are keeping control of this stuff, where’s the oversight? I don’t think there is any.”
Flock offers a variety of products in its surveillance tech suite, including license plate readers, both fixed and mobile security cameras mounted on trailers, and audio detectors designed to detect gunfire.
The license plate readers don’t just track vehicles by their plate numbers; they catalog their makes and models, trim colors, and other definable characteristics before storing those data points in Flock’s digital network.
More than 5,000 law enforcement agencies nationwide contracted with the company have access to Flock’s database, according to the company.
Flock Safety states on its website that it has strict privacy measures, including limiting data storage to seven days.
Residents wait their turn to speak during a public comment portion of the Maricopa City Council meeting on Sept. 1, 2026. Allan Stein/The Epoch Times
The company says it will never share or sell data with third parties and that “the customer is the only one to determine who has access to the footage.”
“Flock Safety believes that we can successfully reduce crime while protecting and preserving privacy,” the company states, adding that its cameras have helped solve more than 10 percent of reported crime in the United States.
The Epoch Times reached out to Flock Safety for further comment, as well as Maricopa Mayor Nancy Smith and several council members, but did not receive a response by publication time.
Amber Rutan demonstrates outside the City Hall to voice growing concerns over Flock Safety cameras in Maricopa, Ariz., on Sept. 1, 2026. Allan Stein/The Epoch Times
According to FlockScanner, a public-interest transparency directory that maps ALPR infrastructure nationwide, 2,618 documented locations of Flock Safety and other ALPR cameras are currently mapped in Arizona. That represents nearly 2 percent of the U.S. total as of Sept. 1, the organization states on its website.
It adds that Phoenix leads the state with 513 Flock Safety cameras, or 19.6 percent, followed by Tucson with 255, or 9.7 percent, and Tempe with 153, or 5.8 percent. Maricopa, with 66,200 residents, has 41 ALPR cameras, or 1.6 percent of the state total.
Julia Romero Gusse, who served two terms spanning eight years on Maricopa’s City Council and is now running for a seat in Arizona’s House of Representatives, noted the proliferation of data centers and the large amounts of water they consume as “overlapping” issues.
Daniel Behnke takes part in a demonstration against Flock Safety cameras in Maricopa, Ariz., on Sept. 1, 2026. Allan Stein/The Epoch Times
“It’s Big Brother in overdrive, especially when it’s a municipality that has control over it,” she said.
A registered Democrat, Gusse said the issue is not about partisan politics; it’s a matter of privacy guaranteed under the Constitution.
“When I was in the Air Force, I worked for NSA for several years. We monitored the enemy. Are we to assume that we are the enemy here?” Gusse asked.
Jacob Burg contributed to this report.
