The Aspen Police Department has recently announced that it will terminate its contract with Flock Safety, removing its cameras from the city. The decision irritated some Colorado residents, who accused the state of only using these surveillance devices in areas where there are no wealthy people.
As reported by The Aspen Times, the local police department is currently working to terminate its contract with Flock Safety. Flock cameras not only record images, but can also read license plates and even recognize faces, which often makes them controversial.
Soon after the cameras were approved in 2025, residents began criticizing the system, and after meetings with the city council, the decision was made to remove them. As Police Chief Kim Ferber explained, the police department’s priority was “maintaining trust with our community members and that means leading with transparency and accountability.”
This is not the first time Colorado has faced controversy regarding Flock cameras. Back in April, for example, 110 Flock cameras were shut down in Denver. At the time, some residents celebrated the victory, but it only meant that the city was switching to the services of a similar company.
Colorado Residents React to Aspen Police Removing Flock Cameras
While many individuals are not happy with the existence of Flock cameras, the removal did not resonate well with folks on Reddit’s r/Colorado, as they believed that this only happened because Aspen is a location often frequented by wealthy individuals. One of them said: “Hey look, more rich people being exempt from surveillance.”
Another added: “Well, yeah. Rich nice areas don’t use Flock. That’s to be used in the poor inner city on a captive audience. Just like how houses in the hood all have fences and Rich suburbs have open lawns.”
Some locals were not entirely sure that this was the case, however. One argued that “Highlands Ranch and Castle Rock were some of the first places in Colorado to get Flock, so I don’t think this tracks.” However, someone else disagreed: “The difference is the ultra rich don’t frequent Douglas County. That’s why they want them gone in Aspen. Mass surveillance is for the general population, not the 1%.”
In any case, Flock cameras continue to be highly unpopular with part of the local population. As one user put it: “I would vote in favor of anyone who was willing to get Flock out of this state.” For the moment, it’s likely that Flock cameras will remain controversial among Colorado locals who value their privacy.
