Documented Incident
Asheville City Council set to vote on ending Flock Safety license plate camera contract
First reported: August 24, 2026 · 26 sources
Asheville City Council was scheduled to vote Tuesday on whether to terminate the city's contract with Flock Safety, which would result in the removal of the city's 11 license plate reader cameras. Mayor Esther Manheimer said the council must weigh privacy concerns raised by residents against law enforcement uses of the technology. Rondell Lance, president of the Fraternal Order of Police and a former Asheville police officer, argued the cameras collect only basic vehicle and tag data and help investigators narrow down suspect vehicles. The Asheville Police Department declined an interview before the vote, saying it would wait for the council's decision.
Asheville's deliberation shows a city council revisiting an ALPR deployment already in place, and raises the question of whether ending one vendor's contract changes surveillance capacity when comparable tools exist under other agreements.
Key facts
- Asheville has 11 Flock Safety cameras that would be removed if the council ends the contract.
- Mayor Esther Manheimer had previously called for ending the Flock contract following public backlash.
- Manheimer said the city's existing contract with Axon also includes stationary license plate readers, none of which are currently installed, and that using them would require developing privacy policies first.
- Councilmember Kim Roney has publicly supported ending the contract, saying Flock is the wrong tool.
- As of the article, the vote had not yet occurred and no decision had been made.
Timeline
- August 24, 2026Asheville City Council to vote Tuesday on ending city's Flock camera contract
- August 26, 2026Asheville votes to terminate Flock Safety contract after community raises concerns about privacy
- August 26, 2026Asheville police lose Flock camera access after city council votes to end contract
Sources
This summary was written from the published reporting below and links to it; BlockFlockNow does not reproduce article text.
- Asheville City Council to vote Tuesday on ending city's Flock camera contract (wtvcfox, August 24, 2026)
- Asheville City Council to vote Tuesday on ending city's Flock camera contract (Wtvc, August 24, 2026)
- Asheville City Council to vote Tuesday on ending city's Flock camera contract (WPDE, August 25, 2026)
- Asheville City Council to vote Tuesday on ending city's Flock camera contract (WLOS, August 24, 2026)
- Asheville City Council to vote on ending Flock camera contract (828 News Now, August 25, 2026)
- Asheville City Council votes to terminate city's Flock camera contract (WLOS, August 26, 2026)
- Asheville City Council votes to terminate city's Flock camera contract (Newsbreak, August 26, 2026)
- Asheville votes to terminate Flock Safety contract after community raises concerns about privacy (WYFF, August 26, 2026)
- Asheville City Council votes to terminate contract with FLOCK safety (FOX Carolina News, August 26, 2026)
- Asheville city council votes to terminate contract with Flock safety (Newsbreak, August 26, 2026)
- Asheville council votes 5-2 to terminate Flock camera contract (828 News Now, August 26, 2026)
- Asheville police lose Flock camera access after city council votes to end contract (wlos.com, August 26, 2026)
- FW City Council votes to end Flock camera contract (963xke.com, August 26, 2026)
- Pflugerville City Council votes to end Flock Safety contract (Community Impact, August 26, 2026)
- FW City Council votes to end Flock camera contract (963xke.com, August 26, 2026)
- Asheville City Council votes to end Flock camera contract ‘immediately’ (Cardinal & Pine, August 26, 2026)
- Asheville Council votes to end Flock contract 'immediately' (The Asheville Citizen Times, August 26, 2026)
- Asheville police lose Flock camera access after city council votes to end contract (WLOS, August 26, 2026)
- Asheville police lose Flock camera access after city council votes to end contract (WLOS, August 26, 2026)
- FW City Council votes to end Flock camera contract (103.9 Wayne FM, August 26, 2026)
- Asheville City Council to vote Tuesday on ending city's Flock camera contract (wpde.com, August 25, 2026)
- City of Asheville votes to terminate Flock camera contract (WSPA 7News, August 26, 2026)
- Asheville Council votes to end Flock contract 'immediately' (Yahoo, August 26, 2026)
- Christiansburg Town Council votes unanimously to remove Flock license plate cameras (Https://www.wdbj7.com, August 26, 2026)
- Christiansburg Town Council votes to end contract with Flock Safety (WFXRtv, August 27, 2026)
- Christiansburg ends Flock contract (Roanoke, August 27, 2026)
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About this record
BlockFlockNow documents reported incidents involving Flock Safety cameras and automated license plate readers: council votes, contract decisions, misuse by authorized users, lawsuits, audits, and community response. Every record is reviewed by a person before publication. New to the topic? Start with What is Flock?, find meetings near you, or learn how to request your town's camera records.
Updated September 1, 2026. Corrections: blockflock@bytebunny.io. See all documented incidents or search the full article archive.