Arizona sheriff cancels Flock camera contract, citing Fourth Amendment worries

Pinal County Sheriff Ross Teeple told the Board of Supervisors on Wednesday that he will not renew his office’s contract with Flock Safety, the surveillance-camera company whose automated license plate readers have drawn growing opposition across Arizona.

The contract expires at the end of September. Pinal County is among the largest jurisdictions in the state to drop the technology, joining Flagstaff, Sedona and South Tucson. Just today, Chandler ended their Flock camera contract.

Teeple said the cameras are capable of far more than reading license plates, including facial recognition, live video streaming and AI-driven pattern recognition that can track residents’ daily movements.

“We have a camera system that can do facial recognition technology and can start building a data set on what our citizens are doing on a day-to-day basis,” Teeple told supervisors. “That, in my training and experience, is a huge Fourth Amendment violation.”

There are roughly 200 Flock cameras in Pinal County, with most of them in cities like Maricopa and Casa Grande. This cancellation only affects cameras in unincorporated areas of the county.

The sheriff said he first grew concerned after learning that Flock cameras in another jurisdiction were used to locate a vehicle by its color and front-end damage, not its plate number.

“We are governed by the consent of the governed,” Teeple reminded KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show. “I had enough voters of Pinal County come to me with concerns and consideration.”

Teeple acknowledged the cameras have helped resolve AMBER and Silver Alerts and aided his anti-smuggling unit.

He recommended the Board of Supervisors commission a scientific poll to gauge whether residents want the technology reinstated.

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