Alabama Power teams with Flock Safety to expand citywide surveillance networks

Since at least 2019, Alabama Power has offered municipalities a bundled solution that bundles Flock Safety cameras and automated license-plate readers with installation on the utility’s poles and electricity service, billing the cost as a line item on power statements. By 2025 the utility was working with over 80 localities, and Birmingham alone approved a $9.7 million contract to add 100 new units after an earlier purchase of 330 cameras.

Police departments claim the system improves investigations, while residents like Darrell Nance and scholars such as Elizabeth Joh argue the model hides who can access the massive data stores and raises privacy risks. A 2021 bill to impose storage and usage safeguards passed the state Senate but died in the House, and its sponsor, Senator Arthur Orr, says he will reintroduce it in 2027. Recent allegations of law-enforcement misuse in St. Clair, Springville and Moody have intensified scrutiny, prompting Flock to shorten its default data-retention recommendation from 30 to seven days. Nonetheless, the partnership continues to expand, with officials asserting that alternative deployment options would be cost-prohibitive without the utility’s infrastructure.