Democrats and Republicans unite over views on flock safety cameras

Our Take

When lawmakers who agree on almost nothing find common cause, it's worth paying attention. NEWS CENTER Maine's report on Democrats and Republicans jointly pushing back on Flock Safety camera networks underscores what we've said all along: warrantless, always-on license plate tracking isn't a left or right problem, it's an American problem. Once a network of cameras logs every car that passes, that data doesn't care about your party registration.

This kind of coalition matters because it's how these systems actually get rolled back. Local police departments and city councils often adopt Flock's ALPR network with little public debate, marketing it purely as a crime-fighting tool while glossing over how the data is stored, shared, and potentially abused. When legislators from opposite ends of the spectrum start asking the same hard questions about retention periods, third-party data sharing, and lack of judicial oversight, it signals the public is catching on faster than the vendors expected.

Credit to NEWS CENTER Maine for putting a spotlight on this shift. If you want to see whether these cameras are already watching your own streets, check our camera map, and if you're ready to push back locally, our take-action guide has the tools to get started.