Flock Camera Installer Calls Police on Reporter #bodycam #police #flockcameras #cops
The short version: A Flock installer's decision to call police on a reporter asking basic questions shows how jumpy the industry gets when anyone scrutinizes where these cameras go up.
Our Take
Credit to Police Bodycam Arrests HQ for capturing this one. A contractor bolting an ALPR camera to a pole is doing work in public, on public right-of-way, often paid for with public money — and yet the reflex here was to summon police rather than answer a reporter's questions. That instinct tells you something about how this industry would prefer to operate: quietly, without cameras pointed back at it, and without anyone asking who approved the install or what data it'll feed into.
This is the pattern we keep seeing across the country. Flock and its installers treat the placement of mass-surveillance hardware as routine infrastructure work, not worthy of public comment, while treating a reporter's camera as an intrusion. It's backwards. The public has every right to know where these readers go up, who's watching the footage, and how long it's kept — especially since most of this gear goes in without real community debate or a vote.
If you want to see how saturated your own neighborhood already is, check our camera map, and if you'd rather not wait for the next installer to get defensive on camera, our take-action page has steps for pushing back at the city-council level before the next pole goes live.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of Police Bodycam Arrests HQ, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.