People are destroying flock cams
The short version: Covington's repeated Flock camera vandalism shows public frustration with ALPR surveillance is boiling over into direct action, even as the real fight belongs in city council chambers.
Our Take
KING 5 Seattle's report on Covington residents repeatedly tearing down Flock Safety cameras is a flashing warning sign, not just a local nuisance story. When people start sabotaging surveillance hardware in the middle of the night, it usually means they feel like every other avenue — public comment, open records requests, city council pressure — already failed them. That frustration is understandable, but it's also a reminder that Flock's business model depends on communities not asking hard questions until the cameras are already bolted to the pole.
We don't endorse vandalism; it's illegal, it puts people at legal risk, and it gives Flock and local police a convenient narrative about 'attacks on public safety infrastructure' that distracts from the actual debate over warrantless tracking of everyone's movements. The more effective fight happens before the install trucks show up: showing up to council meetings, demanding audit logs, and pushing for sunset clauses or outright bans.
If you want to know whether Covington-style cameras are already watching your commute, check our camera map, and if you'd rather channel that frustration into something that actually changes policy, our take-action page has the tools to do it legally — and more durably than a crowbar ever will.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of KING 5 Seattle, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.