Flock Deal Pulls Back Curtain On 20 Small-Town Cameras Wired Into Nationwide Network

The fine print behind 20 surveillance cameras in northern West Virginia points to a reach far beyond county lines.

Monongalia County’s contract with Flock Safety lays out the company’s nationwide camera network and vehicle search tools, WV News reported Wednesday. The county’s Flock deal opens the company’s camera networks to deputies, putting billions of plate scans within reach each month, the contract says,

The county’s own camera data is open to searches by 980 other law enforcement organizations, an audit by the Sheriff’s Office found, according to WV News. Agencies outside the state and outside a 50-mile radius, however, cannot find its network.

The audit also found that drug and narcotics cases made up 188 searches with the cameras between Jan. 1 and June 25, more than any other category, WV News reported.

A feature Flock calls “Vehicle Fingerprint” lets officers track down a car by make, color and other physical features rather than its plate number, the outlet reported. The deal also binds the county to Flock’s online terms, which give the company broad rights to camera data.

“Customer hereby grants to Flock a limited, non-exclusive, royalty-free, irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide license to (a) use and disclose Customer Data to provide the Flock Services; and (b) use Customer Data to support and improve Flock’s products and services,” Flock states in its August 2026 terms and conditions. The terms explain that the county keeps ownership of its data.

Sheriff Todd Forbes signed the deal with Flock in Nov. 2025, committing the county to $177,600 over three years for 20 cameras, according to WV News.

“Flock does not share specifics regarding individual agency contracts, camera counts, locations or deployments,” a Flock spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “The customer agency is the best source for this information.”

The spokesperson also referred the DCNF to a June 2025 blog post on Flock’s website explaining the mechanics of sharing camera data.