Flock Safety cameras have increasingly become targets of vandalism across the United States in 2026, with devices cut down with pole saws, shot with firearms, spray-painted, covered, stolen, or otherwise disabled in cities including Houston, Dallas, multiple Minnesota communities (Duluth, Edina, Winona, Faribault), Iowa, North Carolina, California, and others.
Houston alone reported at least five incidents in roughly one month through late August, while Dallas tracked 25 cases of intentional damage or removal since March.
In Winona, Minnesota, all eight city cameras disappeared. Some suspects have faced charges for property destruction or theft; in one Ohio case, a grand jury declined to indict a man accused of toppling a camera.
The acts are frequently framed by perpetrators and online supporters as political protest against mass surveillance rather than random crime. How-to videos demonstrating methods to disable the solar-powered pole-mounted units have circulated on social media.
Advocacy groups and informal networks, including DeFlock (which maps camera locations and tracks opposition), have amplified awareness.
A “National Week of Action Against ALPRs” occurred in mid-August, and social media campaigns promoted Halloween 2026 as a coordinated night for further actions under names such as “De-Flock America,” encouraging participants to conceal identities, leave phones behind, and target equipment while wearing costumes.
Flock CEO Garrett Langley previously described some camera attackers as “terrorists” before later apologizing amid the broader backlash. Law enforcement in affected areas has increased monitoring and investigations, noting that damage hinders crime-fighting tools.
Civil liberties advocates generally condemn illegal destruction while supporting legal and political efforts to remove the cameras.
No centralized organization has publicly claimed formal leadership of the vandalism, but the volume of incidents, online coordination, and explicit anti-surveillance messaging indicate a decentralized yet concerted activist response that has grown alongside formal contract cancellations and privacy debates.
As of August 24, 2026, the vandalism continues in multiple states.
