Decision Makers:
Damascus Chief of Police
This petition is to respectfully request that the Town of Damascus, Virginia cancel the contract with Flock and remove the Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) cameras in our town. Additionally, we request that no other ALPRs be installed as a replacement.
Damascus, Virginia is affectionately known as “Trail Town USA” and “The Friendliest Town on the Trail”. It is a place where both residents and visitors come to unplug. It is a wonderful place to connect with the close-knit community and the natural beauty that surrounds us.
We trust the Damascus Police Department. However, they do not have control over the data collected nor who has access to it.
1. All the data from these cameras is collected and maintained by private corporations. Flock is often referred to as “Netflix for Stalkers.” Data from ALPRs has led to wrongful arrests, profiling and stalking by ex-partners.
2. There is a concerning amount of data collected from the cameras. Flock is much more than just an ALPR. Flock’s patents (US Patent No. 11,030,892 and US Patent No. 10,795,933) are for "Method and system for capturing and storing significant surveillance images" and "System and method for object based query of video content captured by a dynamic surveillance network".
3. The data collected has a record of not being safely stored. There have been numerous instances of improperly sharing the vast amount of data collected.
4. The presence of these cameras will deter visitors. Many travelers are using websites and applications such as deflock.org , dontgetflocked.com or similar to ensure they avoid these invasive cameras. These tourists will be safe from the cameras in Abingdon, but not in Damascus.
5. There's no substantial evidence that ALPRs effectively prevent crime, nor is Damascus a high crime area.
6. Damascus is the only town in Washington County, Virginia to allow this “dynamic surveillance network”.
7. Numerous other localities have canceled, deactivated or rejected their contract and cameras with Flock. Some of the examples in Virginia include Floyd County, Elkton, Harrisonburg, Staunton, Charlottesville and Warrenton.
8. Lastly, this is an unnecessary expense at a time when our community and businesses are struggling to recover from the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. We would prefer to see our tax dollars invested in our already safe community.
Damascus has been a safe haven for travelers to escape city life and be in nature, away from technology. Here, trust and community go hand-in-hand. Our Damascus Police Department does an outstanding job keeping our community safe. We should not subject our community and visitors to untrustworthy data collection and mass surveillance.
Updates
Reached 100 supporters
August 25, 2026
22 Comments
Get flock out of Damascus. I’m sure it’s useful for our police on occasion, but they did a fine job every day before that shit was plastered all over town in three locations. They can do it once they’re gone also.
Cameras tracking and logging daily travel patterns of innocent residents and sharing said info with outside entities is unconstitutional and have no business being used in our town.
The flock camera systems are being used and abused in their uses everywhere, especially by police officers that have been using them to track people for their personal reasons. I have listened to several news stories about cops being busted for doing this. This is just another way for us to lose more personal freedoms. We do not need to be under surveillance ALL THE TIME!
Intrusive and no true regulation of the data they collect
Because I believe in civil rights. Damascus is a very low crime rate area. Waste of local money
Get rid of them
Why aren’t they outside of every politicians house and public leaders homes?
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Decision Makers:
Damascus Chief of Police
This petition is to respectfully request that the Town of Damascus, Virginia cancel the contract with Flock and remove the Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) cameras in our town. Additionally, we request that no other ALPRs be installed as a replacement.
Damascus, Virginia is affectionately known as “Trail Town USA” and “The Friendliest Town on the Trail”. It is a place where both residents and visitors come to unplug. It is a wonderful place to connect with the close-knit community and the natural beauty that surrounds us.
We trust the Damascus Police Department. However, they do not have control over the data collected nor who has access to it.
1. All the data from these cameras is collected and maintained by private corporations. Flock is often referred to as “Netflix for Stalkers.” Data from ALPRs has led to wrongful arrests, profiling and stalking by ex-partners.
2. There is a concerning amount of data collected from the cameras. Flock is much more than just an ALPR. Flock’s patents (US Patent No. 11,030,892 and US Patent No. 10,795,933) are for "Method and system for capturing and storing significant surveillance images" and "System and method for object based query of video content captured by a dynamic surveillance network".
3. The data collected has a record of not being safely stored. There have been numerous instances of improperly sharing the vast amount of data collected.
4. The presence of these cameras will deter visitors. Many travelers are using websites and applications such as deflock.org , dontgetflocked.com or similar to ensure they avoid these invasive cameras. These tourists will be safe from the cameras in Abingdon, but not in Damascus.
5. There's no substantial evidence that ALPRs effectively prevent crime, nor is Damascus a high crime area.
6. Damascus is the only town in Washington County, Virginia to allow this “dynamic surveillance network”.
7. Numerous other localities have canceled, deactivated or rejected their contract and cameras with Flock. Some of the examples in Virginia include Floyd County, Elkton, Harrisonburg, Staunton, Charlottesville and Warrenton.
8. Lastly, this is an unnecessary expense at a time when our community and businesses are struggling to recover from the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. We would prefer to see our tax dollars invested in our already safe community.
Damascus has been a safe haven for travelers to escape city life and be in nature, away from technology. Here, trust and community go hand-in-hand. Our Damascus Police Department does an outstanding job keeping our community safe. We should not subject our community and visitors to untrustworthy data collection and mass surveillance.
Updates
Reached 100 supporters
August 25, 2026
22 Comments
As a town local, I feel the flock cameras are an invasion of everyones personal lives. There is no reason the town needs a constant third party monitoring everyine and everything, as our town does quite a well enough job maintaining the peace ourselves.
Get flock out of Damascus. I’m sure it’s useful for our police on occasion, but they did a fine job every day before that shit was plastered all over town in three locations. They can do it once they’re gone also.
Cameras tracking and logging daily travel patterns of innocent residents and sharing said info with outside entities is unconstitutional and have no business being used in our town.
The flock camera systems are being used and abused in their uses everywhere, especially by police officers that have been using them to track people for their personal reasons. I have listened to several news stories about cops being busted for doing this. This is just another way for us to lose more personal freedoms. We do not need to be under surveillance ALL THE TIME!
Intrusive and no true regulation of the data they collect
Because I believe in civil rights. Damascus is a very low crime rate area. Waste of local money
Get rid of them
Why aren’t they outside of every politicians house and public leaders homes?
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As a town local, I feel the flock cameras are an invasion of everyones personal lives. There is no reason the town needs a constant third party monitoring everyine and everything, as our town does quite a well enough job maintaining the peace ourselves.