The timeline
In August 2026, Winona's entire Flock network disappeared in what police said appeared to be coordinated theft. The cameras remain missing. The story was picked up nationally by Fox9, the Post Bulletin and Mashable — a rare case of a town losing its whole network at once.
Why Winona mattered
Winona is a small city, and losing 100% of its cameras was a striking symbol. Combined with vandalism in Edina and Duluth, Minnesota became the epicenter of the backlash — 20 cameras across three cities in one month. See the Minnesota page.
What it means for other towns
The thefts sent a signal, but replacing cameras is cheap for vendors. What actually changes policy is legal action: council votes and contract cancellations, tracked on the ban tracker. Want to know if your town has cameras? Run the check-your-area tool. For the wider picture, read Flock camera vandalism across the U.S.