UnFlock TS Thompson's Station, TN
Citizen information campaign

UnFlock TS

No Warrant, No Watch.

Automatic license plate cameras are logging everyday drives through our town— school runs, church, grocery, soccer practice—and feeding a searchable network far beyond Thompson's Station. Neighbors deserve clear answers before that becomes normal.

Talk to your Board See the facts

Why neighbors should care

This isn't about gadgets. It's about who's watching families.

Most parents aren't privacy activists. They're trying to get kids to school on time. Flock-style cameras turn ordinary errands into a searchable timeline of where you were— without a warrant, and often without you knowing a search happened.

School-run surveillance

Plate readers photograph vehicles that pass—not just "suspects." That includes carpools, grandparents, and teens learning to drive. A tool built for investigations becomes a map of family life when it runs on every main road.

Who gets the data?

Local cameras can feed a nationwide lookup network. Out-of-town agencies— and, in documented cases, searches tied to immigration and other far-away agendas— have queried communities that never voted for that bargain.

Don't Tread on Me

Free people should not need permission to drive past a camera without creating a government-searchable record. Safety matters. So does refusing permanent, warrantless tracking of lawful neighbors.

What Flock does

Plain English: cameras that read plates and build a timeline.

Flock Safety sells automatic license plate reader (ALPR) cameras— often pole-mounted "Falcon" units—that capture plate numbers and vehicle details as cars pass. The company markets a software platform (FlockOS) so agencies can search those reads, set alert lists, and tap broader networks.

  • Every passing vehicle can be logged—not only cars tied to a crime.
  • Data is stored for a retention window set in the contract (often measured in days).
  • Agencies can opt into statewide or nationwide lookup networks.
  • Other departments can search your town's reads when sharing is enabled.

Thompson's Station — public order form

Cameras on contract
4 Flock Safety Falcon® units
Annual platform cost
$10,000 / year (recurring)
Listed contract total
$50,450 over the initial term (incl. implementation fees)
Term & retention (order form)
60-month initial term · 24-month renewals · 30-day retention
Network feature listed
"Nationwide Network (LP Lookup Only)" included on the order form

Source: Town of Thompson's Station Flock Safety Order Form posted with October 2023 meeting materials (PDF). We are not inventing additional camera counts or spend beyond this public form. If other cameras or amendments exist, ask Town Hall for the current contract package.

What we know / what we're asking

Sourced national pattern. Local questions that deserve answers.

Micah reviews campaign copy before we treat anything as final public messaging. Below: claims you can verify via the linked reporting and advocacy materials—plus local asks that stay honest about what we have (and have not) confirmed.

Sourced

Nationwide sharing is the product, not a side effect

ACLU reporting shows Flock's network lets agencies far from a camera's hometown search plate data—hundreds of thousands of nationwide searches in short windows— often with thin "reasons" like "investigation." Standard contract language can give Flock broad rights to disclose agency data for "investigative purposes."

Sources: ACLU of Massachusetts Data for Justice; ACLU analysis of opt-out / sharing clauses; ACLU "Get the Flock Out".

Sourced

Documented misuse includes stalking of romantic partners

Journalists and the Institute for Justice have catalogued multiple cases where officers used ALPR/Flock lookups to track exes and partners—including a Kansas police chief who resigned after hundreds of lookups, and other officers charged or convicted in related stalking / computer-crime cases.

Sources: Institute for Justice compilation; KCUR reporting.

Sourced

Immigration and sensitive-issue searches have used the network

Investigative reporting and ACLU records describe immigration-related searches of Flock nationwide data and cases where local agencies ran lookups on behalf of federal partners—even where vendors publicly claimed they "don't work with ICE." Communities that value limited government should read those contracts carefully.

Sources: ACLU on Flock credibility / ICE claims; ACLU on federal / immigration sharing patterns.

Sourced · local contract

Thompson's Station bought Falcons with nationwide lookup listed

The town's public Flock order form lists four Falcon cameras, $10,000 annual recurring cost, a $50,450 contract total for the initial term, 30-day retention, and "Nationwide Network (LP Lookup Only)" among included features. That does not by itself prove every modern setting—but it is the starting public record.

Source: Thompson's Station / Flock Order Form (PDF).

Ask Town Hall

What we still need confirmed locally

Current live camera count (beyond the four Falcons on the 2023 order form); whether nationwide sharing is still enabled; audit logs of who searched town data; any amendments, HOA/private cameras overlapping town roads; renewal / non-renewal notice deadlines; and written policy on search justification. If a number isn't on a public document we link, we won't invent it.

Take action

Ask your elected neighbors—politely, firmly, on the record.

This campaign does not speak for the Town. It asks the Board of Mayor and Aldermen for transparency and a public conversation before warrantless tracking feels inevitable.

Email the Board

Town Hall: info@thompsons-station.com · Town Clerk Regina Fowler · Official BOMA page · Phone (615) 794-4333

Sample email (edit in your own words) 
Subject: Flock Safety cameras — questions from a Thompson's Station resident

Dear Mayor and Aldermen,

I'm a resident of Thompson's Station writing about the Town's Flock Safety
automatic license plate reader cameras.

Please place on a public agenda:
1) The current contract, any amendments, camera count, and annual cost;
2) Whether nationwide / out-of-state data sharing is enabled;
3) Retention period and audit policy for searches of Town data;
4) Options for restricting sharing, shortening retention, or declining renewal.

Families driving to school and church should not become a warrantless
searchable database by default. I respectfully ask for a transparent
discussion before the next renewal decision.

Thank you,
[Your name]
[Your neighborhood / street]

Attend a BOMA meeting

Regular Board of Mayor & Aldermen meetings are scheduled for the 2nd Tuesday of each month (except December) at 6:00 p.m. at Town Hall.

Where Town Hall
1110 Fountain View Blvd
Thompson's Station, TN 37179

Public comment rules apply (sign-in, time limits, agenda-germane remarks). Check the latest agenda on thompsons-station.gov before you go. Confirm time/date if a holiday or special meeting changes the schedule.

BOMA meeting info

About UnFlock TS

A citizen info campaign—not a government site.

UnFlock TS is a buttoned-up, neighbor-led public information effort in Thompson's Station, Tennessee. We borrow the spirit of broader "Get the Flock Out" advocacy while speaking in the voice of local families who care about kids' safety and limited government.

Catchphrase: No Warrant, No Watch. We will keep this page factual, sourced, and updated as Town records and national reporting clarify the picture. Micah reviews copy before we treat it as final public messaging.

Disclaimer: This website is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by the Town of Thompson's Station, Williamson County, or Flock Safety. Linked sources remain responsible for their own reporting. Contract figures cited here come from publicly posted order-form materials; always request current documents from Town Hall before relying on them for official decisions.