Butler County, Ohio — A Countywide Notice
We do not consent to being searched.
License plate cameras across Butler County are logging every car, on every road, into a searchable record — not to catch someone in the act, but to reconstruct where they've been. That's not one search. That's a profile.
“ The [Fourth] Amendment's basic purpose is to safeguard the privacy and security of individuals against arbitrary invasions by government and was designed to place obstacles in the way of a too permeating police surveillance.”
THE U.S. SUPREME COURT — Chatrie v. United States, 609 U.S. ___ (2026), quoting Carpenter v. United States, 585 U.S. 296Show up
Where and when to say it in person.
A comment thread doesn't change a vote. A room full of residents does. Dates below come from each city's own published schedule — verify against the city's calendar before a meeting, since dates can shift.
The two things people say
Fair questions. Here are direct answers.
“My phone already tracks me.”
One photo isn't the issue. The issue is a government network stitching together every plate, every road, every day, into one searchable timeline of your movements — held indefinitely, queryable without your knowledge. That's the exact pattern the Supreme Court said crosses into a search: reconstructing the whole of someone's physical movements, not glimpsing one moment of it.
“I have nothing to hide.”
That flips who has to do the defending. Right now, the government needs a reason before it can search you. A permanent camera network reverses that: everyone's movements are logged first, and if anything ever looks suspicious, you're the one who has to explain yourself after the fact. "Nothing to hide" isn't a shield against that — it just means you're an innocent person who now has to prove it, on the government's schedule, using a record you never agreed to create.
Fact-checked
Sheriff Jones went live to defend Flock. Here's the record.
Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones addressed Flock cameras directly in a Facebook Live after backlash in the comments. We checked the specific, checkable claims against public records.
He said
Flock cameras don't take pictures of your face — "absolutely not," it only reads the license plate.
The record
Flock's own patent (US 11,416,545) describes querying footage for a person with "matching face recognition data points" as a designed system feature. A company's sworn patent filing contradicts its own sales pitch.
He said
If the system is abused, people have been fired or arrested — the guardrails work.
The record
True, and worse than it sounds: a Shively, Kentucky officer was arrested just this week for using Flock to search his ex-girlfriend's plates over 2,000 times — 241 of those searches while she had an active protective order against him. He's one of at least 47 officers nationwide disciplined for this exact kind of abuse, per the Institute for Justice. Firings prove misuse keeps happening, not that it's prevented.
He said
Flock doesn't sell your data.
Actually true
Flock's policy confirms it doesn't sell customer data to third parties. This isn't the strongest defense of the program, though — the real concern is how long data is retained and who it's shared with, not whether it's sold.
See it, don't just read it
Where Flock stands across the region.
A schematic look at where each town stands right now — positions are approximate, not to scale. For actual documented camera locations, crowdsourced by residents nationwide, see the live map at deflock.org.
You're not the first
Cities around Butler County have already acted.
- Oxford, OH
Council voted 6–1 to terminate, Aug 18, 2026.
- Reynoldsburg, OH
Mayor terminated the contract outright, Sept 9, saying "now is the time to move on."
- Dayton, OH
An audit found city cameras were searched over 7,100 times for immigration enforcement despite policy against it; workers bagged 72 cameras with garbage bags while the city worked to exit its contract.
- Worthington City Schools, OH
District ended its contract early, Sept 1, and removed devices from four school sites.
- Hamilton County, OH
Sheriff paused all 75 county Flock cameras Sept 3, with no timeline to resume, citing lack of vendor guardrails.
- Columbus, OH
Mayor paused the program Sept 3 after an officer was found searching one plate hundreds of times; independent audit ordered.
- Monroe, OH
Council voted 5–0, Sept 22, to pass Ordinance 2026-27, ending the city's Flock contract outright.
- Lebanon, OH (Warren Co.)
Council paused its program 6–1, Sept 8, after Flock ignored 54 written questions; final decision now Sept 23 (moved from Sept 22).
- Fort Mitchell, KY
Ended its program the same night, Aug 18.
- Independence, KY
Mayor ordered cameras physically removed, Aug 24, after residents asked.
- Fort Thomas, KY
Discontinued Flock, Aug 28, citing privacy concerns.
- Newport, KY
Police announced they won't sign a permanent contract after the trial run, citing Chatrie v. United States, early August.
- Pierce Township, OH
Trustees voted unanimously to end the contract early and tear down 10 cameras — the 8th Tri-State community to cut ties, Sept 2026.
- State of Florida
FDOT revoked all Flock/LPR permits on state highways statewide, ordering removal within 30 days, Aug 31, 2026.
- State of Texas
Gov. Abbott cut off state funding for Flock cameras in late August; TxDOT stopped issuing new plate-reader permits on state roads Sept 17.
- Nationally
93 cities and counties ended their relationship with Flock in August alone, per an advocacy group cited by WIRED/Mashable. On Sept 18 Flock offered buyouts to its ~1,500 employees. A bipartisan No FLOCK Act (Cloud R-TX / Krishnamoorthi D-IL) was introduced in Congress Sept 15.
Check it yourself
The evidence locker.
Every claim on this page traces to a public document, patent, or court opinion. Links go straight to the source.
- U.S. Patent 11,416,545Flock Group Inc.'s own patent describing face-recognition querying as a designed feature. View patent →
- Chatrie v. United States, 609 U.S. ___ (2026)6–3, holding a Fourth Amendment search occurs when police obtain digital location data — including short windows of it. Read opinion →
- Carpenter v. United States, 585 U.S. 296 (2018)Held that tracking someone's movements over time is a search requiring a warrant. Read opinion →
- Dayton v. State, 151 Ohio St.3d 168, 2017-Ohio-6909Ohio Supreme Court: home-rule authority lets a municipality set its own camera policy without a state override. Read opinion →
- DeFlock mapIndependent, crowdsourced map of license plate readers around the region. Open the map →
The fronts
Where this stands, city by city.
Monroe, OH
Won — 5–0, Sept 22 — deflockmonroe.com
Lebanon, OH
Paused 6–1 (Warren County), final decision now Sept 23 — deflocklebanon.com
Oxford, OH
Won — contract terminated Aug 2026
Hamilton, Fairfield, Middletown, Trenton, West Chester, Mason
Pending — no local site yet
Want to lead one of the pending fronts?
If you live in Hamilton, Fairfield, Middletown, Trenton, West Chester, Mason, or anywhere else in Butler County and want to get a site and a campaign going for your city, reach out.
Correct us
Sources.
- Meeting schedules and locations — each city's official website (linked above); full county list at bceo.org/municipalities
- Oxford 6–1 vote and contract termination — regional reporting, August 2026
- Hamilton County Sheriff pausing 75 cameras, Sept 3 — WVXU, Axios Cincinnati, September 2026
- Columbus pausing its program after officer misuse, Sept 3 — Spectrum News 1, September 2026
- Lebanon council's 6–1 pause vote, Sept 8 — WCPO, Journal-News, WKRC, September 2026
- Fort Mitchell, Independence, and Fort Thomas, KY actions — regional reporting, August 2026
- Newport, KY declining a permanent Flock contract — Spectrum News 1, August 2026
- Pierce Township, OH ending its contract — Hoodline, September 2026
- Florida DOT revoking Flock/LPR permits statewide — FDOT memo; ABC News, NBC News, Washington Times, August–September 2026
- U.S. Patent 11,416,545 — Flock Group Inc., granted August 16, 2022
- Chatrie v. United States, 609 U.S. ___ (2026) — opinion of the Court, Justice Kagan
- Carpenter v. United States, 585 U.S. 296 (2018)
- Dayton v. State, 2017-Ohio-6909 — Supreme Court of Ohio
- Officer Asad Zahir arrest, Shively, KY — CNN, WAVE, WDRB, August 2026; Institute for Justice officer-discipline count via CNN reporting
- Flock's data-sale policy — flocksafety.com/legal/privacy-policy