Cottonwood, Arizona, suspends its use of Flock automated license plate readers

First reported: September 6, 2026 · 4 sources

Cottonwood, Arizona, has suspended its use of Flock Safety automated license plate reader cameras, according to a NewsBreak headline about the city's police department. The article text available to us does not include the reasons given for the suspension, who ordered it, or how long it is intended to last. Whether the pause is temporary or a step toward ending the program entirely is not stated in the available material.

Why this matters

Suspensions give city councils and residents a window to review how ALPR data is collected, shared, and retained before a contract renews, and decisions in smaller cities are often cited by neighboring jurisdictions weighing similar surveillance systems.

Key facts

The city of Cottonwood, Arizona, is reported to have suspended its use of Flock Safety cameras.
The Cottonwood Police Department is the agency associated with the program.
The stated rationale, decision-maker, and duration of the suspension are not available in the source text reviewed.
It is unclear from the available text whether the suspension is temporary or permanent.

Sources

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

Cottonwood suspends its use of Flock Cameras (Newsbreak, September 6, 2026)
City of Cottonwood suspends Flock cameras, effective immediately (Journalaz.com, September 4, 2026)
City of Cottonwood suspends use of Flock cameras (Headtopics, September 5, 2026)
City of Cottonwood suspends use of Flock cameras (abc15.com, September 4, 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 9, 2026. Corrections: blockflock@bytebunny.io. See all documented incidents or search the full article archive.