De Soto police chief talks controversy of Flock cameras after one was found cut down and shot up
The short version: A De Soto, Missouri Flock camera was cut down and shot, and the police chief's defense of the program says more about public distrust than it does about crime-fighting.
Our Take
When a community takes a saw and a gun to a surveillance camera, that's not random vandalism — it's a message. KSDK News' report on De Soto's damaged Flock unit, and the police chief's attempt to reassure residents, is worth watching because it captures exactly the tension playing out in towns across the country: departments insist these cameras are just "tools," while residents increasingly see them as unaccountable eyes they never voted for.
Police chiefs love to talk about the cases Flock "helped solve," but they're a lot quieter about who gets access to that plate-read data, how long it's stored, and whether outside agencies — including federal ones — can query it without a warrant. De Soto isn't unique; it's just the latest small town where frustration boiled over into property damage instead of a city council meeting. That's not a strategy we endorse, but it's a predictable outcome when departments roll out mass license-plate tracking with little public input and even less transparency.
If there's a Flock camera near you, you have a right to know about it. Check our camera map to see what's already watching your town, and use our take-action guide to push for real oversight instead of waiting for someone else to take matters into their own hands.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of KSDK News, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.