Centerton, Arkansas City Council votes unanimously to end its Flock Safety camera contract

First reported: August 12, 2026 · 5 sources

The Centerton City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday night to end the city's partnership with Flock Safety, discontinuing use of the company's automated license plate reader cameras. Several residents attended the meeting to raise concerns about the technology, while Police Chief Cody Harper described benefits such as tracking potentially dangerous individuals entering the city. Council members cited data privacy concerns, noting that Flock retains data for up to 30 days on Amazon-based cloud storage.

Why this matters

Centerton is one of several Northwest Arkansas and River Valley communities revisiting ALPR contracts, showing how local councils are weighing police-cited investigative benefits against data retention and storage questions.

Key facts

The Centerton City Council vote was unanimous and took place on a Tuesday night.
Council members cited Flock's practice of storing data for up to 30 days on Amazon-based cloud storage.
Police Chief Cody Harper spoke in favor of the system's benefits before the vote.
Nearby Pea Ridge has also ended its Flock partnership; Greenwood has held public meetings on the issue.
Springdale and Little Flock posted publicly last month defending their continued use of the cameras.

Sources

This summary was written from the published reporting below and links to it; BlockFlockNow does not reproduce article text.

Centerton City Council votes to end Flock camera use (KNWA FOX24, August 12, 2026)
City of Centerton votes to terminate contract with Flock (4029tv.com, August 12, 2026)
Centerton city leaders weigh in after council votes to terminate Flock Safety contract (Yahoo, August 13, 2026)
Centerton City Council votes to end Flock camera use (KNWA FOX24, August 11, 2026)
Centerton City Council votes to no longer use Flock Safety cameras (Yahoo, August 13, 2026)

More from Arkansas

Everything we have documented in Arkansas, or search every Arkansas article in the archive.

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 August 19, 2026. Corrections: blockflock@bytebunny.io. See all documented incidents or search the full article archive.