200 cities cancelled their Flock contract in 18 months. On September 23, that number was read into a Senate microphone.
The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism convened at 2:30 PM ET under the title “Always Watching: Flock’s Nationwide AI Surveillance Network.” Five witnesses testified — Chad Marlow (ACLU), Alasdair Whitney (Institute for Justice), Sheriff Ross Teeple (Pinal County AZ), Lindsey Isaacs (wrongfully accused driver), and Benn Jordan (cybersecurity engineer). All four invited vendor CEOs — Garrett Langley (Flock), Rick Smith (Axon), Greg Brown (Motorola), Filip Kaliszan (Verkada) — did not appear.[1][2]
( per the written testimonies published by the Subcommittee on September 23, 2026 )
Chad Marlow confirmed the number that had been missing from the record: “More than 200 localities have discontinued their relationships with Flock in the past 18 months, and in August 2026, Flock terminations reached a staggering rate of more than three per day.”[3] Whitney added that the IJ Database of ALPR Abuse now catalogs more than 240 documented incidents.[4] Isaacs described 13 days in pretrial detention because a Flock camera captured her Dodge Durango 2-3 miles from a fatal crash — eyewitnesses had described a maroon truck, not black; the State ultimately declined to prosecute and filed a No Information.[7]
The editorial lesson is not the hearing itself. It is what the four CEOs did with the invitation: Verkada (Filip Kaliszan) declined on September 18, stating “none of our customers can search a national Verkada network – because none exists.”[1] Sheriff Teeple testified that in Pinal County, ALPR has become “a 4-letter word” because the cameras have been used for unconstitutional purposes.[5] Benn Jordan documented that “by pushing the button on the camera 3 times, I was able to access all of the data or reprogram the device however I wanted in under a minute” — a literal backdoor.[6] Flock, Axon and Motorola have not responded publicly. If three vendors under U.S. Senate investigation cannot produce a CEO in front of a potential subpoena, what will they produce for your state agency, your municipality, or your sector regulator under an equivalent transparency request?
P.D. How many of your current RFP criteria survive a 30-minute audit against the September 23 written testimonies? Today is a good day to count them.
📰 Source: Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism — Always Watching: Flock’s Nationwide AI Surveillance Network, September 23, 2026. Written testimonies: Chad Marlow (ACLU), Alasdair Whitney (IJ), Sheriff Ross Teeple (Pinal County AZ), Benn Jordan, Lindsey Isaacs. Accessed September 23, 2026.
Sources
[1] https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/committee-activity/hearings/always-watching-flocks-nationwide-ai-surveillance-network — Official hearing page, September 23, 2026. [2] https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/aclu-privacy-expert-to-testify-at-bipartisan-senate-hearing-on-flock-and-other-automatic-license-plate-readers — ACLU press release, September 22, 2026. [3] https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/download/09/23/2026/2026-09-23-pm_testimony_marlowpdf — Chad Marlow (ACLU) written testimony, September 23, 2026. [4] https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/download/09/23/2026/2026-09-23-pm_testimony_whitneypdf — Alasdair Whitney (IJ) written testimony, September 23, 2026. [5] https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/download/09/23/2026/2026-09-23-pm_testimony_teeplepdf — Sheriff Ross Teeple (Pinal County AZ) written testimony, September 23, 2026. [6] https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/download/09/23/2026/2026-09-23-pm_testimony_jordanpdf — Benn Jordan (cybersecurity engineer) written testimony, September 23, 2026. [7] https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/download/09/23/2026/2026-09-23-pm_testimony_isaacspdf — Lindsey Isaacs (wrongfully accused driver) written testimony, September 23, 2026.