Dragnet style surveillance South Carolina group calls for removal of Flock cameras

Our Take

Credit to RickieBobbieNO26 for putting a camera on this: a South Carolina community group is calling out Flock Safety's network for what it actually is — dragnet-style surveillance that logs every passing vehicle, not just the ones tied to a crime. That framing matters. These systems aren't marketed to the public as "track everyone, always," but that's the practical effect once enough cameras go up and the data gets pooled into a searchable, retroactive record of where people drive, when, and how often.

What's encouraging here is the local organizing itself. Flock's expansion has largely happened through quiet city council votes and police department contracts, with little public debate about retention periods, data sharing with other agencies, or who gets to query the system. A group standing up and demanding removal — rather than just asking for "more oversight" — signals that at least some residents aren't buying the standard public-safety pitch without scrutiny. That kind of pressure is one of the few things that's actually slowed Flock deployments elsewhere.

If you're in South Carolina or anywhere else wondering whether this is already happening in your backyard, check our camera map to see documented ALPR locations near you, and visit our take-action page for concrete steps to push back at the local level.