The Hamilton County Sheriff's Office permanently terminated its 75-camera Flock license plate reader network on Friday, Oct. 2, one month after pausing the program over residents' concerns about data access and sharing, Fox 19 reported.

The cameras were deployed throughout Hamilton County and area townships, including communities patrolled by the sheriff's office such as Sycamore Township. Their removal marks the end of a surveillance tool that had drawn months of public debate across the region.

Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey's office announced the decision in a statement, saying the program was fully terminated after further review during the pause. The office said residents had raised concerns about who outside Hamilton County could access locally collected data, how it could be shared and what control the sheriff's office had over those processes, according to WCPO.

An internal audit found no misuse.

The 75 cameras capture license plates and vehicle details and store them in the cloud for law enforcement use. They will be covered, disabled or removed under the existing contract at no additional cost to the county. Hamilton County first partnered with Flock Safety in 2022 after a grant funded 25 cameras, according to Major Tony Orue. The network expanded to 75 through partnerships with townships and municipalities.

McGuffey described the Sept. 3 action as a temporary pause. "It's serious enough that we are pausing until we have stronger guardrails in place," she said at a Sept. 3 press conference, according to WLWT. At the time, she said the technology helped solve crimes and that she wanted to bring the cameras back once Flock and the Ohio Legislature established privacy safeguards.

A month later, the office chose termination instead. In its statement, the sheriff's office said it would only use tools that meet its standards for privacy, transparency and full local control over sensitive information. The office said it will keep residents informed about any future use of the technology.

Hamilton County joins a growing list of agencies that dropped Flock this summer. At least eight Greater Cincinnati communities ended their programs, including Newport, Independence, Fort Mitchell, Erlanger, Fort Thomas, Edgewood, Pierce Township and Oxford, WLWT reported.

Flock Safety has responded to the regional backlash by cutting its default data retention period from 30 days to seven and making misuse detection mandatory for all customers.