🎉 A WIN FOR COTTONWOOD: THE FLOCK CAMERAS ARE CANCELED
We did it — and this happened because our community spoke up.
After months of questions, public comments, research, records requests, and community advocacy, the City of Cottonwood has canceled its Flock automated license plate reader camera contract.
That is a significant step forward for privacy and accountability in our community.
We want to say THANK YOU to everyone who showed up, asked questions, contacted city officials, attended meetings, signed petitions, shared information, and helped bring this issue into the public conversation.
This was a community effort.
And we're proud of what happened when residents came together and said:
Our privacy matters. Our voices matter.
With the Flock camera contract canceled, our focus has shifted to understanding the Flock drone currently being used by the Cottonwood Police Department.
And this part of the story has taken an interesting turn.
We recently met with Chief of Police Brian Freudenthal, Commander Gareth Braxton-Johnson, and City Manager Mario Cifuentes to discuss the drone program, privacy, data, and how the technology is being used.
The City came prepared.
They provided us with drone contracts, flight plans, and additional information about the system, and we were able to ask detailed questions about how the technology works.
The conversation was candid, informative, and — honestly — refreshing.
🚁 What We Learned About Cottonwood's Drones
Cottonwood has five drones in its fleet.
Two are mobile drones that can be deployed from vehicles when needed. Two are the same model — one owned by the City and one owned by Flock — and there is also an older drone in the City's fleet.
The Flock-owned drone has significantly more features and capabilities and is being used as part of a Drone-as-a-First-Responder (DFR) system.
The drone can be dispatched in response to a 911 call and provide an aerial view of an active incident.
We learned that this technology can be particularly useful for fire response, search and rescue, and other situations where an aerial perspective can assist first responders.
We asked some very direct questions.
We were told that while the drone is traveling, it “keeps its eyes on the horizon.”
According to the information provided to us, the drone is not intended to scan down into backyards, homes, or residential streets as it travels over the community.
We were also told that the system is not intended to scan or extract information such as license plates or other identifiers from the video.
The purpose is to provide video of the scene the drone has been dispatched to — essentially creating a recording of what is happening at the incident.
🔐 Who Can Access the Footage?
We specifically asked about outside agencies.
We were told that outside agencies are not currently set up to access the footage.
However, there is still an important question that we believe deserves continued attention:
The data is currently housed within the Flock system.
That's why we're continuing to ask questions about data ownership, storage, access, retention, and who ultimately controls our community's information.
💻 The City Is Looking at Alternatives
This is one of the most encouraging parts of our conversation.
The City's IT department is actively researching two alternative companies that could potentially provide cloud-based data storage outside of Flock.
The City understands the concerns about keeping Cottonwood's data within the Flock ecosystem and is actively exploring other options.
We believe that's worth recognizing.
The drone itself can be an incredibly useful public-safety tool. Our concern is making sure that powerful technology comes with appropriate privacy protections, transparency, accountability, and responsible control of our community's data.
We were provided with:
We're reviewing those materials and researching the technology and companies involved.
Our next step is to release a comprehensive report explaining what we've learned, what the contracts say, what questions remain, and what options may be available to Cottonwood.
We are going to continue asking the hard questions.
But we're also going to recognize transparency when we see it.
Our meeting with Chief Freudenthal, Commander Braxton-Johnson, and City Manager Cifuentes was candid, informative, and encouraging.
They came prepared. They answered our questions. They provided documents. And they were willing to continue the conversation.
That's what community engagement should look like.
🍽️ CONTINUING THE CONVERSATION
Meet City Manager Mario Cifuentes
Now we'd like to bring that conversation to the community.
Join us for an informal evening with City Manager Mario Cifuentes and your neighbors.
This is an opportunity to ask questions directly, learn more about how our city works, and continue the conversation about privacy, public safety, and the future of technology in Cottonwood.
We'll talk about:
🚁 The Flock drone and Drone-as-a-First-Responder program
🔐 Privacy and community data
📹 The canceled Flock camera contract
🏛️ How City Council meetings work
📋 How items get placed on the Council agenda
🎤 Public comment and how residents can participate
🤝 How our community can continue working with City leadership
Bring your questions. Bring a friend. Bring your curiosity.
This isn't a formal City Council meeting. It's an opportunity to sit down together, have an open conversation, and learn more about what's happening in our community.
910 N. Main Street, Cottonwood, AZ
👉 RSVP:
https://www.mobilize.us/indivisible-ccc/event/1054110/
🎉 We celebrated one important victory.
🔎 Now we're continuing the work.
🤝 And we're keeping the conversation open.
Thank you, Cottonwood, for showing up.
Indivisible Cottonwood, Cornville & Clarkdale
Find Your People. Protect Democracy.