Dover Police to Replace Flock Cameras With Axon to Reduce Costs

Dover police will replace 17 Flock Safety license plate readers with Axon Enterprise cameras starting next summer to reduce annual costs and address privacy concerns, according to the Delaware State News.

The shift comes after a proposal by Police Chief Thomas Johnson and Capt. Ernie Roswell at the Nov. 10 Council Committee of the Whole meeting, where officials sought to move away from a vendor facing increasing scrutiny. The plan involves transitioning to Axon, a company that already provides the department’s vehicle and body-worn cameras, to create a more integrated and cost-effective surveillance system.

“We saw an opportunity to save a little bit of money for the same service stretched out over multiple years and take a step towards acknowledging some concerns that we’ve been observing over the last two years with the existing vendor,” Johnson said, as reported by the Delaware State News.

The decision follows a pattern of similar movements within Delaware. In August, Wilmington decommissioned four Flock readers due to concerns regarding data usage, making Dover the next city in the state to discontinue the technology.

Residents question police plan to replace Flock cameras with Axon — KCRG-TV9: Your Trusted Local News Source

The move is driven by both a desire for budgetary efficiency and a response to growing public apprehension regarding Flock Safety’s business practices. The American Civil Liberties Union has been campaigning through its “Get the Flock Out” initiative to encourage municipalities to terminate contracts with the vendor, citing issues with transparency and oversight.

Specific incidents have fueled these concerns, including reports of employees accessing cameras to view children and instances where officers used license plate information to stalk individuals. Chief Johnson said that addressing these concerns could help “improve some consumer confidence in the product that we have, in the service that we provide.”

The switch will change the city's annual budget. The department will transition from a five-year Flock contract that concludes in June 2027 to a new agreement with Axon that runs through 2031.

Financial Detail	Flock Safety (Current)	Axon Enterprise (Proposed)
Annual Cost	$158,500	Approximately $139,503
Contract End Date	June 2027	2031
Annual Savings	—	$18,997

While the exact destination for the $18,997 in annual savings remains undetermined, Captain Roswell emphasized that the department is attempting to be “fiscally responsible, while also continuing to advance with the technology that we think we need to help keep the city safe.”

Beyond the cost savings, the technical differences between the two systems offer the Dover Police Department a different type of utility. While Flock devices focus specifically on license plate recognition, Axon’s equipment functions as video cameras capable of recording entire areas upon request.

This transition integrates with the city’s existing Axon FususONE project, which merges public and private video streams into a single interface. Capt. Roswell said that the department has already invested in and incorporated 150 downtown cameras into this unified system.

“The idea is, when we get a complaint, we’re on that camera immediately,” Roswell said, explaining that the new equipment will work with the current infrastructure. He added that the goal is to provide officers with the ability to “respond and investigate and get to a good conclusion quicker for the victims of crime (and) for those that report crime.”

The move toward Axon also promises enhanced administrative controls. The proposal highlighted that the new system will provide the department with agency-controlled data access, improved search permissions, greater administrative security, and auditable activity reports.

The new Axon camera contract is scheduled to begin on July 1, 2027.