Inside N.J.'s exploding surveillance cam network
The short version: NJ.com exposes a near-total statewide ALPR network—523 of 530 agencies—quietly merging police cameras with retail and apartment feeds into one sprawling surveillance system.
Our Take
Credit to NJ.com for actually pulling the numbers: 523 out of 530 law enforcement agencies in New Jersey are plugged into this network. That's not a pilot program anymore, that's a completed rollout that most residents never voted on, debated, or even heard about until a reporter started asking questions. When Home Depot, Lowe's, and random apartment complexes are feeding plate data into a police-controlled system, the line between "private security camera" and "government surveillance infrastructure" has basically disappeared.
This is exactly the pattern we track everywhere Flock expands: sell it to city councils as a narrow tool for stolen cars and Amber Alerts, then quietly stitch together a de facto tracking grid that logs everyone's movements regardless of suspicion. The video notes cops touting solve rates, but nobody's talking about retention periods, audit logs, or who else gets to query this haystack of driving histories. New Jersey residents deserve to know that answer before the network gets even bigger, not after.
If you're in Jersey, check our camera map to see what's already watching your street, and hit up our take-action page if you want to push back at a council meeting instead of just waving at the camera.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of NJ.com, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.