Around 8 pm on Tuesday, May 11th, the Richmond City Council voted unanimously to approve the 2026-2027 budget, which included at least $1.2 million to be invested into maintaining RPD contracts. One such contract is for the ninety-nine Flock cameras installed throughout the city. During the bulk of the meeting up to that point, the council entertained (and heard, and saw, they assured) citizen comments regarding the budget.
During public comment, speaker after speaker criticized the surveillance system. No one spoke in support of it.
Council President Cynthia Newbille demanded decorum when some members of the Richmond chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America in attendance shouted “shame!” as they exited the council chamber.
Flock Group Inc. operating as Flock Safety, provides automatic license plate reader (ALPR) systems and related surveillance technology used by law enforcement agencies across the country. The company’s products include camera networks, cloud-based data systems, and gunshot detection technology in some jurisdictions. Civil liberties groups and privacy advocates have raised concerns over the systems’ effectiveness, cybersecurity vulnerabilities, data-sharing practices, and their potential use in immigration enforcement investigations. Reporting in 2025 also revealed that Flock data had been accessed through pilot programs involving federal agencies including DHS.
Legal concerns surrounding automatic license plate reader systems have also begun surfacing in Virginia courts. In 2024, a Norfolk Circuit Court judge ruled that the warrantless use of historical Flock camera data constituted a search under the Fourth Amendment, comparing prolonged location tracking through ALPR systems to unconstitutional GPS surveillance addressed in United States v. Jones. The decision added to growing legal scrutiny surrounding how long police agencies can track and store vehicle movement data without a warrant.
The stated goal of Flock’s presence is a safer Richmond. RPD Chief Rick Edwards is quoted on rva.gov as saying, “Automatic License Plate Readers have proven instrumental in helping investigators quickly identify and apprehend violent offenders.”
In fact, according to internal texts published by Richmond Times-Dispatch from Mayor Avula’s staff, Avula’s administration was plotting to “saturate the public narrative” with positive stories about the role that Flock cameras played in changing the outcome of crime investigations.
But the public isn’t buying it.
As the DSA members and advocates for the wider Block Flock movement pointed out at the May 11 hearing, the cameras can only provide punitive solutions, not preventative ones. After 13 pedestrian fatalities were recorded in Richmond in 2025, citizens asked the council to invest in fixing poorly kept sidewalks and providing pedestrian islands for safer street crossings instead of the cameras.
Privacy and cybersecurity concerns surrounding Flock systems have also fueled criticism. YouTuber and technologist Benn Jordan working alongside security researchers, has published investigations documenting vulnerabilities in some Flock-related camera systems, including exposed live feeds and archived footage accessible through improperly secured devices. Jordan has argued that such systems could be vulnerable to stalking, harassment, or other forms of abuse if compromised or poorly configured.
“Anyone in the country can watch anyone in Richmond,” one speaker at the budget hearing warned. “Anyone can watch your spouse drive to work or watch you drop your children off at school.”
You’ve seen them before. Black, pear-shaped devices shaded by a small solar panel. What do they know about your routine? What do they know about your loved ones’ routines?
Who is “they?”
The “they” that we do know about is frightening enough. A 2025 investigation by the Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism at WHRO found that Virginia Flock camera systems were queried thousands of times by outside law enforcement agencies across the country in searches connected to immigration enforcement. The reporting focused on audit data from Bridgewater and Mecklenburg County, where local systems connected to Flock’s wider network were accessed by agencies far beyond Virginia.
Virginia’s revised Automatic License Plate Reader law, which took effect in 2025, placed tighter restrictions on how ALPR data can be shared and used. But the investigation raised broader questions about how much oversight localities truly have once surveillance systems become part of a national network.
Victoria McCullough is a co-chair of the Migrant Solidarity Working Group, within Richmond DSA, said she worries surveillance systems like Flock expand not only through police departments, but through private institutions and community organizations operating under the language of safety.
“In some cases churches have been approached by Flock to consider Flock for their faith communities,” she said after the hearing. “My theory is that it happened the same way that the city got Flock, which is: somebody approached the city and said, ‘Have you considered Flock? I’d like to sell you a package.’ That can also happen with a private entity or in a faith space.”
McCullough noted that some churches in Richmond function as sanctuary spaces for undocumented residents and immigrant families concerned about deportation.
“In Richmond, a lot of that conversation looks like sanctuary churches and cathedrals for people who are undocumented,” she said.
She argued that once surveillance infrastructure becomes normalized inside public and private spaces alike, removing it becomes increasingly difficult.
“Every time we give surveillance the next step, we cannot roll it back,” McCullough said. “We’ve not seen at any point in history that once we give that away, we get it back.”
The final stretch of the budget hearing focused on another issue entirely: preserving funding for Richmond Virtual Academy, the online learning program launched by Richmond Public Schools in 2021. Students, parents, and teachers spoke passionately about the program, describing it as a safer and more effective learning environment for many students who struggle in traditional classrooms.
Richmond Virtual Academy reportedly requires roughly $3.2 million to continue operating.
The $1.2 million approved for Flock and related contracts would not fully fund Richmond Virtual Academy on its own. Still, the contrast lingered throughout the night: residents asking for investments in education, infrastructure, and prevention while the city continued expanding its surveillance capabilities.
Richmond officials describe systems like Flock as investments in safety. But for many residents at the hearing, safety looked less like cameras and data collection and more like functioning sidewalks, stable schools, and communities that feel supported before police intervention becomes necessary.
Reporting by Q Rice, R. Anthony Harris contributing
Photo by Julian Focareta
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