SOUTH TUCSON cancelled its CONTRACT WITH FLOCK AT the URGING OF DEFLOCK TUCSON AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS! (check out Big Brother has left the chat on Instagram)

On February 17, 2026, a motion was made for the immediate cancellation of the city’s contract with Flock due to concerns of ICE interference.

At the first council meeting in November 2025, the Flock contract was questioned by members of Deflock Tucson and South Tucson residents. After hearing from a Flock representative, the majority of the council were unconvinced that the cameras‘ benefits outweighed the negatives. Yet, at the next November meeting the council decided to continue the contract until it's renewal in June 2026. 

South Tucson's contract with Flock was added to the agenda only days before the council meeting was scheduled on February 17, 2026. Members of Deflock Tucson and others in the community urged council to cancel their contract with Flock Safety, discontinuing use of automatic license plate readers (ALPRs). 

Council member Cesar Aguirre stated that “…many people came up here to speak tonight and made a really, really important point that these cameras do not prevent any crime whatsoever at all. So why are we wasting money in trying to catch criminals after the fact? Why aren’t we investing the money in trying to prevent the crime?“

Council member Flagg agreed: “And I think that's real important. So, I think that what we need to do as South Tucson, we need to join Sedona and Flagstaff and cities all around the country that are saying ICE has no flocking business here.” 

All council members voted in favor of canceling the contract with Flock with the exception of vice mayor Brown-Dominguez.

During the meeting, Deflock Tucson members found it deeply disturbing when a police officer said that Flock was a tool, comparing AI-enhanced surveillance cameras to pepper spray or a gun━both of which are considered lethal weapons, not tools. 

Key takeaways from city council and community members:

• Flock cameras don't prevent crime, instead it's important to consider holistic approaches to crime prevention.
• Flock is only interested in the money, and there are better ways to apply funds for community safety.
• Flock enables ICE and federal overreach, even when the sharing setting is turned off, it doesn't mean the data is secure.
• Many of South Tucson residents are people of Hispanic or Latinx ethnicity, and due to connections to ICE, this is not an acceptable tool for their community.

“The cancellation of this contract is one of many success stories of communities coming together to organize across the country. The people will not stand for their communities and neighbors to be wrongfully treated as criminals at the behest of a multi million dollar company.” says Arian Chavez, a student at The University of Arizona. Deflock Tucson formed in response to 62 ALPRs installed on campus. Currently there are over 300 ALPRs throughout Pima County with the highest concentration at The University of Arizona. 

Public comments significantly impact the results of continuing or canceling mass surveillance contracts. Join us at your local council meeting, sign up to make public comments, and demand cancelation of contracts with mass surveillance companies.

More great news! Our petition has reached over 1K signatures and counting! We thank you for helping us raise awareness by sharing this petition with your friends, neighbors, and community. Let's try for 2K next month and end mass surveillance throughout Pima county!

This month we ended our outreach at the 42nd Peace Fair & Music Festival with over 100 visitors and 19 signups for our newsletter and volunteering. If you're interested in joining Deflock Tucson, please reach out to us via email at deflocktucson@pm.me. 

Thank you all for your continued support!