Fort Mitchell will dismantle all five of its license plate reader cameras and walk away from a $34,000 contract with Flock Safety after residents packed the Aug. 17 council meeting to oppose the surveillance technology.

The council voted that night to immediately terminate the deal with the Atlanta-based vendor, according to LINK nky, which reported the outcome on Aug. 18.

Mayor Greg Pohlgeers announced the city would begin shutting off the devices right away and would not renew its agreement with Flock Safety. He cited growing public concern about mass surveillance, data security and Fourth Amendment violations, along with opposition from several council members.

The mayor acknowledged his own reversal. As recently as the June 1 council meeting, Pohlgeers told colleagues he was a proponent of the cameras, pointing to a case in Berea where the technology helped locate a bank murder suspect within 24 hours.

"It was a different climate back then, as a small police department; that's something I support," Pohlgeers said at the Aug. 17 meeting. "It gave us the ability to leverage the technology to do more with less. However, there's one thing that's more important than that to me, and that is the public's trust."

The contract, signed Oct. 20, 2024, by then-Mayor Jude Hehman, covered four solar-powered Falcon cameras and one long-range unit installed across the city. The two-year agreement billed $17,000 at signing and $17,000 for year two, with a 30-day data retention window and automatic renewal unless either party gave 30 days' notice.

Greg Given, a Fort Mitchell resident who has worked in information technology for 28 years, was among those who spoke against the program. Given told the council he had reviewed the contract and followed the technology's expansion nationally before concluding residents should not have to "trade my freedom for the appearance of safety."

City administrator Edwin King said Fort Mitchell will coordinate with Flock Safety to officially end all operations.

Broader Flock debate in Kenton County

Fort Mitchell is not alone. Newport previously abandoned its own Flock program after community pushback, and Independence held a separate public meeting on the cameras the same night as Fort Mitchell's vote. The outcome of that Independence session has not been confirmed.

As NKY Current reported Aug. 5, 20 Flock cameras were already operating across Fort Mitchell, Edgewood, Villa Hills and Lakeside Park under independent contracts. Edgewood runs four cameras for $42,000, Villa Hills has five for $33,250 and the Lakeside Park/Crestview Hills Police Authority operates three for $19,550. Fort Wright considered a $79,700 proposal for four cameras at its Feb. 18 caucus meeting but lacked the votes to advance it.

Flock Safety announced Aug. 13 that it would cut its default data retention from 30 days to seven days and make misuse-detection tools mandatory for all law enforcement customers.

Whether the remaining Kenton County contracts survive growing public scrutiny remains an open question. The Kenton County Fiscal Court has postponed a vote on Flock cameras for county parks at least twice, most recently July 14, with no new date set.