Flock Cameras in Huntington, West Virginia

The short version

Huntington, West Virginia approved a $2.1 million contract with Flock Safety after a long July 2026 City Council meeting.

WV MetroNews reported that the council vote was 6-4 after more than 50 people raised concerns during public comment, and that the meeting ran until around 4 a.m. on Tuesday.

The ACLU of West Virginia later said it joined local law firms to file a lawsuit in Cabell County Circuit Court on behalf of Huntington resident Greg Jimison, seeking to stop the contract from going forward.

What Huntington approved

The public reporting and ACLU release describe the Huntington deal as a $2.1 million Flock Safety contract.

The ACLU of West Virginia said the contract would cover license plate recognition cameras with vehicle fingerprint technology, live video cameras, gunshot detection audio devices, and automatically dispatched drones.

That makes Huntington different from a narrow ALPR-only pilot. The public fight is not only about license plate reads. It is about a broader public-safety technology bundle placed into city space under one vendor agreement.

Why residents objected

WV MetroNews reported that more than 50 people spoke against or raised misgivings about the company during public comments before the council vote.

The Herald-Dispatch and Charleston Gazette-Mail pages both described overwhelming concern over implementation of Flock Safety cameras in the city and said residents argued privacy concerns.

For residents, the practical question is whether a city can prove who controls the cameras, who can search the data, what other agencies can access, how long records are retained, and what happens if the technology is misused or the contract is challenged.

What the lawsuit argues

The ACLU-WV release says the lawsuit alleges City Council neglected several key procedural matters in awarding the contract.

ACLU-WV Legal Director Aubrey Sparks said the city acted hastily and did not follow its own laws when approving the contract. She also said city code requires a proper process before a private company can use city property for commercial purposes.

According to the ACLU-WV release, that process includes public notice, a public hearing, and procedural safeguards. The release says those steps were not followed.

Why the process question matters

A Flock contract is not just a software subscription. It can put cameras, connected sensors, access permissions, and data-sharing choices into public infrastructure.

That is why the procedural issue matters even before a court reaches the privacy arguments. If a city skips or compresses the public process, residents may never get a clear chance to examine camera locations, property rights, sharing settings, retention rules, audit logs, and termination terms.

For other councils, Huntington is a warning that the approval path can become the controversy. A large surveillance contract approved after a marathon meeting may create legal risk even if police officials believe the technology has public-safety value.

How Flock frames control

Flock's public License Plate Reader Policy says LPR data gathered on behalf of a customer is owned by that customer and that customers choose whether to share LPR data with other customers according to their laws and policies.

Flock's Trust Center says access is managed by the local agency, limited to authorized users with role-based permissions, and that every search is tied to a specific user and recorded automatically.

Those vendor statements are useful, but they do not end the local oversight question. Huntington residents and council members still need to know the actual contract terms, active sharing settings, user permissions, public reporting rules, and legal process for putting equipment on city property.

What other cities should learn

Before approving a Flock contract, a city should publish the full agreement, order form, camera and sensor list, total cost, renewal terms, equipment locations or location rules, data-retention settings, sharing permissions, audit process, and property-use authority.

Officials should also separate two debates: whether police want the tool, and whether the city has followed the right public process to authorize the tool.

Huntington shows why those questions should be answered before the final vote. Once a city approves a major surveillance contract over strong public objection, the next forum may not be another council meeting. It may be court.

The bottom line

Huntington's Flock fight is now both a procurement story and a civil-liberties story.

The city approved a $2.1 million contract after heavy public opposition. Then a resident, backed by ACLU-WV and local counsel, sued over how the contract was awarded.

For cities considering Flock cameras, Huntington's lesson is blunt: do not treat approval mechanics as paperwork. Public notice, property authority, contract disclosure, sharing controls, audit logs, and resident trust are part of the purchase.

Sources used

ACLU of West Virginia, Huntington Sued Following Approval of Flock Contract, July 16, 2026: https://www.acluwv.org/press-releases/huntington-sued-following-approval-of-flock-contract/

WV MetroNews, City of Huntington hit with lawsuit from ACLU, others over $2.1 million Flock Safety contract, July 16, 2026: https://wvmetronews.com/2026/07/16/city-of-huntington-hit-with-lawsuit-from-aclu-others-over-2-1-million-flock-safety-contract/

The Herald-Dispatch, Huntington City Council approves contract for Flock Safety cameras, July 14, 2026: https://www.herald-dispatch.com/news/huntington-city-council-approves-contract-for-flock-safety-cameras/article_036cc5af-8cb9-48f6-909b-8493dffae112.html

Charleston Gazette-Mail, Huntington City Council OKs Flock Safety cameras; residents argue privacy concerns, July 14, 2026: https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/legal_affairs/huntington-city-council-oks-flock-safety-cameras-residents-argue-privacy-concerns/article_176982e2-16d4-40bf-91d1-e32493c55df9.html

Flock Safety, License Plate Reader Policy: https://www.flocksafety.com/legal/lpr-policy

Flock Safety, Privacy, Data & Civil Liberties Policies: https://www.flocksafety.com/trust