Flock Cameras in Deer Park

What Deer Park bought, what it costs, and what the record shows

What it costs

Deer Park has never published what it pays for Flock. What the record does show is that year one was funded with a one-time $14,000 from the courts, that the city's own finance director said year two had no source, that the levy floated to cover it was dropped, and that eighteen months of minutes never identify what replaced it. This page shows the arithmetic and labels every estimate as an estimate.

The one number that is confirmed

On November 4, 2024, Deer Park's council voted 5–0, with two members excused, to direct $14,000 received from the courts toward the Flock camera program.1

That is the only Flock dollar figure in the public record. It is one-time money, and it is spent.

What the city has not published

We checked deerpark-oh.gov on July 29, 2026 for the contract, any appropriating ordinance, invoices, and current financial statements. None of it is online. The city's published auditor's fund reports stop at September 2022, and there is no legislation archive.2,3

So the following are all unknown to the public:

  • The total contract value.
  • The annual value.
  • The signing date.
  • The expiration date — which is the single most actionable fact about this program and nobody outside city hall knows it.
  • Installation and any one-time fees.
  • What is funding it now.

The funding gap, in the city's own words

The clearest cost analysis of this program was performed by Deer Park's own staff, in December 2024, and it has never been resolved on the record.

The funding sequence as recorded in Deer Park council minutes4
DateWhat the minutes record
Nov 4, 2024$14,000 from the courts directed to Flock, 5–0.1
Nov 18, 2024The department “will also need some addition funds for the flock camera program.” A 1-mill police levy is suggested.5
Dec 2, 2024“the contract with Flock lasts for 2 years, and if we cannot pay the equipment is taken back.” Most of year one funded; year two not funded.6
Dec 16, 2024Staff prepare 1-mill and half-mill levy versions in case council proceeds.7
Jan 20, 2025Council decides not to put the police operating levy on the ballot, citing the homestead tax credit.8
Feb 3, 2025 – Jun 2026Nothing in the minutes identifies a replacement funding source.4

Read in sequence, that is a recurring obligation created with one-time money, a warning from the finance director, a proposed funding mechanism, and then the removal of that mechanism — with no recorded answer to the question the finance director raised.

We are not alleging concealment. Small cities carry unglamorous line items forward in a general fund all the time. The point is narrower: the December 2024 question was never answered in public, and it is the right question to ask before renewing.

What other cities pay

These figures are from municipal sources, and each is labeled by what kind of source it is.

Published Flock ALPR costs from other jurisdictions
JurisdictionCamerasCostPer camera / year
Cleveland, Ohio — original 2026 renewal request9 ~100 $250,000 / yr ~$2,500
Cleveland, Ohio — as amended, 6-month term10 ~100 $125,000 / 6 mo ~$2,500
Central Ohio — 15 departments11 319 ~$2,000,000 ~$6,270 total spend per camera
Campbell, California — city FAQ12 — — $2,500
La Porte, Texas — Flock HOA rate sheet13 — — $2,500

The La Porte figure carries its own caveat: it is Flock's own marketing sheet for homeowners' associations, not a municipal contract, and we type it as a vendor document in our source list for that reason.13

The strongest comparator on this table is Cleveland, because it is an Ohio city whose price appears in its own council legislation, and because it independently lands on the same ~$2,500 per camera per year as the two published rate figures.9,10

The arithmetic for Deer Park

Estimated annual cost for Deer Park’s nine cameras at published rates — an estimate, not Deer Park’s contract
BasisRate9 cameras / year
Campbell CA and Flock rate sheet12,13$2,500$22,500
Cleveland’s implied rate9~$2,500~$22,500
Upper end of aggregator ranges$3,000$27,000

Call it $22,500 to $27,000 a year, plus one-time installation. We label this an estimate in every place it appears on this site, and it should not be quoted to council as Deer Park's actual figure.

Set against the confirmed numbers:

  • $14,000 — the one-time court money, spent.1
  • $0 — the identified recurring source, as of the last published minutes.8,4

If the real annual figure is anywhere near $22,500, then over a two-year term the program costs roughly three times the one-time money that started it — which is precisely the structure the finance director flagged in December 2024.6

The cost that is not on the invoice

Toledo is the reason to include this section.

A Flock camera misread a digit and flagged Brandon Upchurch's truck as stolen. The felony stop that followed involved a police dog injuring his arm. The City of Toledo paid $35,000 from its Risk Management Fund to settle, authorized by Ordinance O-457-25 on October 7, 2025.14,15

Flock did not pay that. Toledo did.

For scale: a single settlement of that size is more than a full year of the estimated camera cost for Deer Park. A city of 5,700 with an unfunded year two has a thin cushion for a wrongful-stop claim, and the vendor's own contract now routes disputes to arbitration under Georgia law and no longer carves gross negligence out of its liability caps.16,17 The contract changes are detailed on the claims page.

There is also a pending federal civil rights suit in Florida arising from a Flock-assisted wrongful arrest in which the plaintiff spent 13 days in jail.18 Cases and payouts are on the lawsuits page.

What a cost-conscious council member should ask

Four questions, each answerable with a document:

  1. Produce the contract. Total value, annual value, signing date, expiration date, and any auto-renewal clause.
  2. Produce every invoice paid to Flock Safety since 2024, and identify the fund each was paid from.
  3. What line item funds it in the current budget, given that the $14,000 was one-time and the levy was dropped?
  4. What is the termination provision? Oak Park exercised its by a simple board motion.19 Whether Deer Park can do the same depends on a clause nobody has read.

Sources

  1. Government record City Council Minutes, November 4, 2024. City of Deer Park, Ohio. November 4, 2024. www.deerpark-oh.gov/media/user/council-meeting-minutes/Nov%204th%20City%20Council%20Min.pdf ↑1↑2↑3The city posts this document as a scanned image rather than as searchable text, so the quotations are transcribed from the page and checked word by word against the scan.Retrieved July 29, 2026.
  2. Government record Auditor Monthly Fund Reports. City of Deer Park, Ohio. www.deerpark-oh.gov/government/auditor-monthly-fund-reports ↑As of July 29, 2026 the most recent report published is September 2022, so the city's own online financial reporting does not cover the period in which Flock was purchased.Retrieved July 29, 2026.
  3. Government record Police Department. City of Deer Park, Ohio. www.deerpark-oh.gov/departments/police ↑Checked July 29, 2026 for any mention of ALPR, plate readers, Flock, or camera policy. None appears.Retrieved July 29, 2026.
  4. Government record City Council Minutes (archive index). City of Deer Park, Ohio. www.deerpark-oh.gov/government/city-council-minutes ↑1↑2↑3All Deer Park minutes cited on this site were downloaded from this index and searched in full.Retrieved July 29, 2026.
  5. Government record City Council Minutes, November 18, 2024. City of Deer Park, Ohio. November 18, 2024. www.deerpark-oh.gov/media/user/council-meeting-minutes/Council%20Minutes%20November%2018t%202024.doc ↑Retrieved July 29, 2026.
  6. Government record City Council Minutes, December 2, 2024. City of Deer Park, Ohio. December 2, 2024. www.deerpark-oh.gov/media/user/council-meeting-minutes/Council%20Min%20Dec%202%2C%202024.pdf ↑1↑2↑3The city posts this document as a scanned image rather than as searchable text, so the quotations are transcribed from the page and checked word by word against the scan.Retrieved July 29, 2026.
  7. Government record City Council Minutes, December 16, 2024. City of Deer Park, Ohio. December 16, 2024. www.deerpark-oh.gov/media/user/council-meeting-minutes/Council%20Min.%20Dec%2016%2C%202024.pdf ↑The city posts this document as a scanned image rather than as searchable text, so the quotations are transcribed from the page and checked word by word against the scan.Retrieved July 29, 2026.
  8. Government record City Council Minutes, January 20, 2025. City of Deer Park, Ohio. January 20, 2025. www.deerpark-oh.gov/media/user/council-meeting-minutes/Council%20Minutes%20-%20January%2020%2C%202025.pdf ↑1↑2↑3The city posts this document as a scanned image rather than as searchable text, so the quotations are transcribed from the page and checked word by word against the scan.Retrieved July 29, 2026.
  9. Government record Emergency Ordinance 683-2026, authorizing contracts with Flock Group, Inc. dba Flock Safety (legislative record). Cleveland City Council. Passed July 15, 2026. cityofcleveland.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=8042536&GUID=CD0D9B9B-D0B4-4139-92F6-E3B55862EABA ↑1↑2↑3File created May 28, 2026; passed July 15, 2026; effective August 15, 2026. Sponsored by the Mayor's Administration and Justin M. Bibb. The as-amended text and the amendment itself are attachments on this record.Retrieved July 29, 2026.
  10. Government record Amendment to Ordinance No. 683-2026 (as amended, desk copy). Department of Law, City of Cleveland. July 15, 2026. cityofcleveland.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=15693899&GUID=7AC8CF89-050A-435D-88A7-7C46EF9C7726 ↑1↑2Two-page amendment signed by Assistant Director of Law Vishnu Ganglani. Cuts the term from one year to six months and the amount from $250,000 to $125,000; adds warrant-only disclosure, a penalty of up to 25 percent of the contract for privacy violations, a public transparency portal, quarterly written reports to the Clerk and Safety Committee, and a bar on sharing data with the Northeast Ohio Regional Fusion Center.Retrieved July 29, 2026.
  11. News reporting Central Ohio police departments have spent nearly $2 million on Flock license plate cameras. Katie Geniusz, WOSU Public Media. April 28, 2026. www.wosu.org/politics-government/2026-04-28/central-ohio-police-departments-have-spent-nearly-2-million-on-flock-cameras ↑1↑2Based on public records requests to central Ohio police departments. WOSU notes its tally is likely an undercount because several departments did not respond and private businesses also contract with Flock.Retrieved July 29, 2026.
  12. Government record Frequently Asked Questions: How much does a Flock Safety camera cost?. City of Campbell, California. www.campbellca.gov/FAQ.aspx?QID=279 ↑1↑2A city's published pricing statement, not an executed contract. States $2,500 per camera per year plus a one-time $250 installation cost, covering hardware, maintenance, footage hosting, cellular service and software updates.Retrieved July 29, 2026.
  13. Flock Safety Flock Safety Information (neighborhood and HOA pricing sheet). Flock Safety, hosted by the City of La Porte, Texas. www.laportetx.gov/DocumentCenter/View/11185/Flock-Safety-Information ↑1↑2↑3Flock Safety's own marketing sheet aimed at neighborhoods and HOAs, hosted on a city website. Not a municipal contract. States subscriptions are $2,500 per camera per year with a one-time installation fee of $150 to $650 per camera.Retrieved July 29, 2026.
  14. Government record Ordinance O-457-25: Authorizing the settlement of claims brought in Brandon Upchurch v. City of Toledo, et al.. Toledo City Council. Introduced September 17, 2025; passed October 7, 2025. toledo.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=7683298&GUID=A50B871F-4FE3-4168-A8F8-D048B7FB67C9 ↑Authorizes $35,000 from the city's Risk Management Fund. The underlying suit is Upchurch v. City of Toledo, No. 3:25-cv-711 (N.D. Ohio).Retrieved July 29, 2026.
  15. News reporting Case-by-Case: Every Reported Flock License Plate Camera Error to Date. Shawn Henry, The Auto Wire. July 18, 2026. theautowire.com/2026/07/18/case-by-case-every-reported-flock-license-plate-camera-error-to-date ↑A compilation, not original research; it credits reporting by The Drive and the Institute for Justice and states the list is "very likely incomplete." Individual cases cited on this site are footnoted to their own primary sources wherever one was available.Retrieved July 29, 2026.
  16. Flock Safety Flock Safety Customer Terms and Conditions, last updated February 16, 2026. Flock Safety (mirrored by haveibeenflocked.com). February 16, 2026. haveibeenflocked.com/blog/terms-feb2026/feb-2026-terms.pdf ↑Flock's own contract text. Cited from a mirror because Flock's live terms page is rewritten in place each time the terms change and is not reliably archived; we downloaded and read this PDF directly on July 29, 2026 rather than relying on any third party's summary of it. Every quotation on this site from the February terms was verified against this file.Retrieved July 29, 2026.
  17. Flock Safety Flock Safety Customer Terms and Conditions, December 2025 version. Flock Safety (mirrored by haveibeenflocked.com). December 20, 2025. haveibeenflocked.com/blog/trojan-contracts/dec-2025-terms.pdf ↑The immediately preceding version of Flock's terms, mirrored. We downloaded and read this PDF directly on July 29, 2026 and confirmed the presence of the clauses that the February 2026 version omits, including section 4.1's sentence 'Flock does not own and shall not sell Customer Data' and all of section 4.3, Training Data.Retrieved July 29, 2026.
  18. News reporting Woman wrongly jailed in I-4 deadly crash files lawsuit against Florida Highway Patrol. Haley Coomes, WKMG-TV / ClickOrlando. June 10, 2026. www.clickorlando.com/traffic/2026/06/10/woman-wrongly-jailed-in-i-4-deadly-crash-files-lawsuit-against-florida-highway-patrol ↑Reports that Lindsay Isaacs, 23, was arrested April 16, 2026 by the Florida Highway Patrol over an October 2025 wrong-way crash in Volusia County that killed three, after her vehicle appeared on nearby Flock cameras around the time of the crash and witnesses described the SUV as black. Charges were dropped less than two months later when FHP's reconstruction team concluded a maroon Durango could be mistaken for her black one on an unlit stretch. Alisa Lee Montalvo, 47, was later charged. Isaacs filed a federal civil rights suit naming two FHP sergeants; the article does not name the court.Retrieved July 29, 2026.
  19. Government record Automated License Plate Readers (page updated August 6, 2025). Village of Oak Park, Illinois. August 6, 2025. web.archive.org/web/20260119000140/https://www.oak-park.us/Public-Safety/Police-Department/Automated-License-Plate-Readers ↑Cited to the Internet Archive capture of January 19, 2026, because the village's live page is no longer publicly readable. This page also reproduces Flock Safety's own assurances to the village verbatim.Retrieved July 29, 2026.
  20. Government record City Council Minutes, April 20, 2026. City of Deer Park, Ohio. April 20, 2026. www.deerpark-oh.gov/media/user/council-meeting-minutes/Council%20Min%20April%2020%2C2026.pdf ↑The city posts this document as a scanned image rather than as searchable text, so the quotations are transcribed from the page and checked word by word against the scan.Retrieved July 29, 2026.