Henrico County crews tear down 120 cameras after Flock misses deadline

Henrico County workers pulled more than 120 Flock cameras from poles across the Virginia jurisdiction on Saturday. They took down the hardware because the vendor missed its removal deadline.

County Manager John Vithoulkas confirmed the crews completed the work over the weekend. Officials said Flock failed to fulfill its contractual obligation to take the devices down. The company was supposed to remove the cameras within two weeks of the contract ending. That deadline passed without action from the vendor.

The county stopped using the automatic license plate reader system last month. Police cut ties with the cameras by mid-October. The decision came after officials spoke with residents, police officers, and privacy experts. They weighed the technology's benefits against concerns about data access.

Rev. Roscoe D. Cooper III, chairman of the Henrico Board of Supervisors, described the move as a preventative measure. He said leaders felt the timing was correct given national and state discussions. Cooper stated, 'Rather be proactive than reactive. And we’re aware of the conversations that are occurring nationally, as well as on the state level. And we just, again, felt that this was the right time to make this decision.'

Leaders noted there was no evidence that Henrico police misused the system. The poles holding the cameras remain in place. It is Flock’s responsibility to remove those structures. The county posted about the decision on social media on Oct. 6.