Meet The People Destroying Flock Cameras

Our Take

Curiosity Corner's short profile of camera-baggers and camera-smashers isn't really a story about vandalism — it's a pressure gauge. When ordinary people start climbing poles to cover up license plate readers, that's a signal that the normal channels for pushing back (city council meetings, public records requests, polite letters to police departments) have stopped feeling like they work. We don't endorse property destruction, and it carries real legal risk for the people doing it, but we understand exactly why the frustration exists: these cameras went up in thousands of towns with little debate, log every passing car, and hand that data to police and, in many cases, to other agencies far outside the community that installed them.

What the video captures well is the asymmetry. Flock Safety and its police partners face almost no friction when adding new cameras — a contract, a press release, done. Residents who want a camera gone face lawsuits, code enforcement, or simply a locked gate with a sign that says the equipment is private property. That imbalance is what pushes some people toward direct action instead of due process, even though due process is the safer and more durable path.

If you're frustrated by what's shown here, there are ways to act that don't put you at legal risk. Check our camera map to see what's already tracked near you, and use our take-action guide to push your city council for an ordinance, an audit, or outright removal — the boring paperwork route that actually sticks.