Elkton Town Council voted 5-0 at a public meeting on Monday to cut ties with Flock Safety, effective immediately.
It’s how we got here that really matters — and what it shows about what a community that comes together can accomplish.
The Town of Elkton signed a contract with Flock Safety in 2024, unbeknownst to its residents. The cameras went unnoticed for quite some time.
Fast forward to just a few months ago, and I caught wind of it, thanks to another town resident. That’s when the fight started.
Background
We first wanted information on the contract between Elkton and Flock. At a cost of more than $800 in public records fees, we were eventually able to get it. Those documents were crucial to our fight. They showed us exactly how Flock has been able to permeate our small towns — with nothing more than strokes of a pen in what I would describe as an administrative back room. No public discourse, no Town Council approval, no warning. Just the police department initiating contact with Flock, and the town manager signing the contract once the details were worked out.
At a time when democracy has been a major topic of national conversation, there was an egregious lack of it in Elkton when it came to these cameras.
Instead of waiting for someone else to take the reins, I started organizing. I created a group called DeFlock the Valley — a place to keep the public informed and share updates on what we found and how we found it. We built deflockthevalley.com and began listing the Flock Transparency portals for towns in our area. Those portals proved crucial in demonstrating that this is a dragnet surveillance system, not a proactive policing tool.
Every day, innocent people are photographed and their location logged into a database that any participating agency in the area can search retrospectively — without a warrant.
During my research, I discovered a loophole in Virginia law that actually protects ALPR usage — but found that Flock’s Condor PTZ cameras are not afforded those same protections. I used that loophole to obtain footage from the cameras through a FOIA request and share it with the public.
When you can see an officer zooming in on people at the gas pumps at midnight, just watching them, it puts the overreach into perspective in a way that no legal argument can.
After multiple FOIA requests, we decided we had enough information to begin distributing it to town residents. At first, I tried using signage — which was a mistake on my part. Within 24 hours, the Elkton Police Department selectively enforced a weak town ordinance on signs. All of mine were removed because, I was told, “someone called and complained.” Every other sign in town that wasn’t anti-surveillance stayed up.
This ultimately led me to have a direct conversation with Sgt. Insana and Cpl. Robertson of EPD. It was a good conversation. We went back and forth and ultimately agreed to disagree. I understand their perspective — they see this as a legal tool, and they used it. But I, along with the roughly 75 people who showed up to the Elkton Town Council meeting last night, saw it for what it really is: a private corporation profiteering from our data.
Town Council
When we tried to get Flock formally placed on the Town Council agenda, we were told they “couldn’t guarantee” it would happen. One official pointed to a June 1 meeting at the Monger Shelter as evidence the town had already addressed the issue publicly. That meeting was listed on the town’s website as a “Community Meeting” — but it started at 5:30 p.m., the standard start time for working meetings held at Town Hall, not community meetings open to the public.
According to the agenda, attendees received a presentation on police department operations. Very few residents knew it was happening. As I stated in my public comment last night: a presentation given without meaningful public notice is not public engagement. It is the appearance of public engagement. There is a difference.
Last night, eight to ten residents spoke during public comment. When that period closed, Councilman Aaron Napotnik moved to amend the agenda to add the termination of the Flock Safety contract as a new business item. Councilwoman Virginia Fulginiti seconded the motion.
There was brief discussion among the Council and the mayor about the precise scope of the action — whether it applied to Flock specifically, to ALPRs broadly, or to all cameras. Attempts by the audience to clarify were met with reminders that public comment had closed, and this was now a council discussion. Ultimately, the motion was amended to terminate the agreement with Flock Safety effective immediately.
The vote was 5-0, unanimous, with Councilwoman Rachel Michael not present.
Sgt. Insana made his case to the Council for why the department had proceeded with acquiring and using the cameras. The Council heard him out. Then they voted in the best interest of their constituents.
Now the fight turns to Rockingham County
As Harrisonburg, Charlottesville, Staunton and now Elkton have terminated their contracts, the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office has quietly begun deploying Flock cameras of its own — one at McGaheysville Elementary School, one at Fulks Run Elementary School, and one at the Ruritan Park on Route 33 west of Harrisonburg.
I have made multiple attempts to contact RCSO about their Flock agreement. I have left several messages with Lt. Tate and received no response. I submitted a FOIA request and received no response. But if there is one thing last night’s win in Elkton confirmed, it’s that the truth will always come to light.
Why we’re fighting
The reason so many of us are opposed to these cameras is straightforward: they are ripe for abuse. That concern does not become easier to dismiss when Alan Johnson, an officer on the Elkton police force, took to the public Elkton/Shenandoah News & Gossip Facebook group just two hours after last night’s 5-0 vote to write: “Criminals got their way? Not surprised. Hope those against them don’t need police to solve crimes for them. Call a crackhead now and not 911.”
This is an active-duty officer, publicly calling constituents who exercised their democratic rights “criminals,” and suggesting they forfeit police protection for doing so. This is the same department that was trusted with cameras capable of watching residents at gas pumps at midnight. This is exactly why trust matters — and exactly why oversight matters more.
This response, paired with Flock Safety CEO Garrett Langley previously describing the national DeFlock organization as “terroristic” — a comment he has since apologized for — tells you everything you need to know about why communities across Virginia are saying no. An apology does not change what these cameras are, what they collect, or why town after town is walking away from them.
Elkton walked away last night. Rockingham County should be next.
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