Local police defend Flock camera tech and CPS reverses course on its tax plan
The short version: Local 12 reports Hamilton police defending their Flock ALPR network amid public pushback, a familiar script departments use when scrutiny finally catches up to their camera budgets.
Our Take
When a local news segment buries "police defend Flock camera tech" between a school tax reversal and Bengals talk, it tells you something: surveillance expansion rarely gets its own headline until someone starts asking hard questions. That Hamilton PD felt the need to go on record defending the program suggests residents or council members are pushing back, which is exactly the kind of local accountability we want to see more of nationwide.
The defense itself is worth watching closely. Departments typically lean on the same talking points — solved crimes, recovered vehicles, "it's just public roads" — while sidestepping the bigger questions: who else can query the data, how long it's retained, and whether any independent audit has ever happened. Flock's own transparency portals rarely answer those questions in full, and "it helped close a case" is not the same as proving the dragnet is proportionate or safe from misuse.
If you're in Hamilton or anywhere in Ohio, this is the moment to show up to a council meeting and ask for the audit logs, not just the press release. Check our camera map to see what's already deployed near you, and use our take-action guide to push your local government for real oversight instead of a defensive sound bite.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of LOCAL 12, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.