Martinsville Will Drop Flock Cameras When Contract Ends December 31

Martinsville Police will not renew their Flock contract when it expires Dec. 31, saying usefulness cannot outweigh lost public trust, Cardinal News reported.

Chief Chad Rhoads told employees the public does not trust the technology and that education alone will not reverse the tidal wave. Officials said there have been no misuse cases and that 41 cameras helped find missing people, recover stolen vehicles and generate investigative leads since 2022.

Until the contract ends, only sergeants and above may run searches, limited to homicides, serious violent crimes and missing or endangered people. Outside-agency requests are restricted the same way, property-crime searches are barred, and data retention drops from 21 days to seven.

Martinsville joins Prince Edward County and at least 20 other Virginia localities that have stopped, terminated or declined to renew Flock systems, mostly in Southwest, Southside and Central Virginia. Sens. Lashrecse Aird and Glen Sturtevant have floated statewide bans on similar tools.

Email the Prince Edward County Board/Council:
Harrison Jones, District1@co.prince-edward.va.us,
Victor Thomas “Bill” Jenkins, District2@co.prince-edward.va.us,
Jerry Townsend, District3@co.prince-edward.va.us,
Odessa Pride, District4@co.prince-edward.va.us,
Llewellyn Gilliam Jr., District5@co.prince-edward.va.us,
David Emert, District6@co.prince-edward.va.us,
Cannon Watson, District7@co.prince-edward.va.us,
Pattie Cooper-Jones, District8@co.prince-edward.va.us,

Email the Martinsville City Council:
LC Jones, lcjones@martinsvilleva.gov,
Kathy Lawson, klawson@martinsvilleva.gov,
Rayshaun Gravely, rgravely@martinsvilleva.gov,
Aaron Rawls, arawls@martinsvilleva.gov,
Julian Mei, jmei@martinsvilleva.gov,

Email the Prince Edward County School Board:
Harvey Tackett,
Doug S. Farley,
Timothy W. Corbett, Sr.,
James A. Arieti,
Lucy B. Carson,
Robyn Simpson,
Susan Kimbrough,
Cainan Townsend,

Email the Martinsville School Board:
Nekia Blackwell,
Kathy Carter,
Yvonne Givens,
Tony Jones,
Michael Williamson,