Flock status: Termination and removal approved
Campaign status: Equipment, refund and data-deletion verification
Last verified: September 19, 2026
Trustees voted unanimously to end the agreement.
On September 8, 2026, the Independence Township Board of Trustees voted 7-0 to terminate its Flock agreement and remove all eight cameras reported as operating in the township.
Current reporting says the board directed the administration to:
- settle the outstanding balance through September;
- cancel the agreement;
- seek reimbursement for unused credits;
- take reasonable legal action if needed to ensure camera removal; and
- require Flock to eliminate township-related data and document that through an affidavit.
WXYZ: Independence Township votes to end Flock →
FOX 2: termination, eight cameras and planned data deletion →
The closeout terms are unusually important.
Many cancellation stories stop at the vote. Independence Township’s direction addresses more of the actual end state:
Stop the agreement → remove the hardware → reconcile the money → delete the data → obtain written proof.
An affidavit does not independently prove every technical copy disappeared from every possible downstream system. It creates an accountable written representation that residents can compare with the contract, deletion process, preservation obligations and any later evidence.
Why the township acted
Reporting identified resident privacy concerns and cost reduction as reasons for the decision. Township officials also discussed whether policy and safeguards had kept pace with the technology.
That is a legitimate local-government choice. A municipality does not have to prove that every camera was misused before deciding the system, expense and risk are not worth continuing.
Independence Township is not yet classified as fully DeFlocked.
The current defensible status is:
Termination approved → removal ordered → data purge and completion being verified.
The remaining questions are factual:
- Were all eight cameras physically removed or returned?
- When did every local account, alert and search permission stop working?
- Did the township receive the requested refund or credit?
- Did Flock provide the requested deletion affidavit or other certification?
- What happened to exported or preserved case evidence?
- Has the township considered a materially equivalent replacement?
The next useful records
Residents should obtain:
- the September 8 motion, resolution, minutes and meeting video;
- the agreement in effect on the vote date;
- the termination notice and Flock’s response;
- equipment-removal or return records;
- refund and unused-credit records;
- the requested affidavit or deletion certification; and
- any proposal for replacement ALPR or integrated surveillance technology.
A useful model for other cities
The strongest lesson is not merely that a board voted no. It is that the motion reportedly addressed the loose ends that can survive a public announcement.
One useful action: ask your own municipality what its termination motion would need to say about hardware, accounts, sharing, retained data, credits and written confirmation.