Southern Colorado county ends Flock Safety program, equipment removed

Custer County in southern Colorado has ended its contract with Flock System, the latest in a series of communities to do so across the state. 

Flock operates a network of cameras across the country that capture license plates and vehicle information, such as make and color. It then provides that data to customers, including law enforcement agencies. The technology has been hotly debated across the nation, with opponents raising concerns about privacy violations and misuse of the cameras.   

According to the Custer County Sheriff's Office, a Flock contractor removed the last cameras last weekend. 

While the sheriff maintains that the cameras were instrumental in helping solve crime and keep the community safe in several instances over recent years, data retention and concerns about safety prompted the community to ask Custer County Sheriff Rich Smith to remove the cameras. 

The county informed Flock that it wanted to cancel its contract on March 24. In August, a vandal used a reciprocating saw to cut down two Flock camera poles on Highway 69 north of Reed Road. 

Over the past weekend, Oct. 3 and 4, a Flock contractor removed the rest of the equipment from Custer County. 

The sheriff said in a statement that while other companies offer similar license plate reader systems, the other vendors could pose some privacy issues. Custer County said it does not plan to install license plate reader cameras or photo radar cameras that had been discussed in the past. 

Custer County is located southwest of Colorado Springs. 

Recently, the City of Boulder announced it would let its contract with Flock Safety end. The Moffat County Sheriff's Office also recently removed all of its Flock cameras. In Denver, officials chose to switch to a different automatic license plate camera reading system provided by Axon.