“Keep the applause to a minimum, please,” Bend Mayor Melanie Kebler directed the public at the Jan. 7 Bend City Council business meeting.
Most council meeting audiences aren’t so noisy, but the community members and privacy activists in attendance Wednesday had something to cheer about. Per Kebler and City Manager Eric King, the City of Bend will commit to a de-Flock — suspending the usage of Flock Safety surveillance cameras at two locations in Bend.
King acknowledged “significant public concerns about Flock Safety business practices,” which manifested in the form of a petition in December, as well as several instances of public comment and outreach to City officials.
“We share some of those concerns. Because of that, the City of Bend will not renew the Flock Safety contract for fixed [Automated License Plate Recognition] system subscription services,” he said.
The City Council asked Bend Police Capt. Brian Beekman to speak about the benefits of Flock license plate reader AI cameras, of which BPD operated four: two each at the north and south ends of Highway 97 in Bend. The cameras, Beekman said, “opened up a broad investigation” into a “multi-state theft operation where they were defrauding people trying to sell their vehicles,” resulting in “at least $35-40,000 in recovered stolen property.”
However, extensive privacy and security concerns won the day over potential public safety benefits. As the Source previously reported, criticism of Flock Safety over its data storage and access protocol has come not just from activists, but from members of Congress like Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden.
City Councilor Mike Riley agreed with the senator. “We might get into a place where the feds try to get some of this Flock data, and we just heard concerns about that tonight from [Latino Community Association],” Riley said. LCA had given a presentation prior to the Flock agenda item.
“For me, we’re almost to the end of the contract. I think if it was the beginning, I would want to have maybe a little more discussion,” Kebler said. “But I think, especially given the community input, what other cities in Oregon are doing: they are turning them off, they are terminating their Flock contracts… I think this is probably a prudent move to end the use of [Flock] at this point.”
Both King and Riley mentioned the possibility of future contracts with another ALPR, surveillance camera or speeding camera vendor, with Riley arguing that heightened privacy and data security would be a necessary part of any “new vendor relationship,” and that “due diligence” would be necessary to make sure “we have the right terms.”
Last May, the City of Bend signed a contract to pay $19,900 to Flock for its products and installation services. In July, that contract was amended, replacing six Flock “Falcon” cameras with four “Falcon Long Range” cameras for an additional $4,100.
That $24,000 paid to Flock is non-refundable, as Kebler and the City Council said that the contract could not be terminated. Bend will instead suspend the cameras, joining Oregon cities like Woodburn and Talent, until the one year “pilot program,” as King referred to it, expires in May of this year.
“To summarize… the contract will not be renewed and the direction to staff is to turn off the technology and not be using it for the remainder of the contact,” said Kebler.
Users on the Bend Reddit community, where last month’s petition and the anti-Flock civic campaign gathered momentum, reacted positively. “I love when local community activism works,” said one commenter. “Other cities beat us to the punch but this was a positive outcome,” another user remarked.
This article appears in the Source January 15, 2026.
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According to the article there are 4 Flock cameras operating in Bend. Also, “suspending the usage of Flock Safety surveillance cameras at two locations in Bend”. It’s not clear that ALL Flock cameras in Bend will be suspended as intended.
The city then states “the City of Bend will not renew the Flock Safety contract for fixed [Automated License Plate Recognition] system subscription services”. This opens the door for the city to initiate another “service” from Flock or another vendor “possibility of future contracts with another ALPR, surveillance camera or speeding camera vendor”.
The citizens of Bend don’t want this kind of government serveillance. Words and actions like the above do not inspire confidence and trust in Bend city government.
Hi Geoff, there are 2 cameras at both locations, totaling 4 cameras operated by the City. Bend PD stated that both locations have been suspended as of Jan. 8.
I suspect 4 cameras in 2 locations means one at each location is pointing South while the other is pointing North. And since the cellphones we all use are already “surveilling” us 24/7 this citizen of Bend is not too concerned about ALPR programs as long as the data usage is actually restricted to its intended purpose.