Flock Camera Poles Are Not Safe!
The short version: YouTuber Lufi Feats documents a second Flock ALPR pole toppling in downtown Reno, raising questions about installation standards and oversight.
Our Take
Credit to Lufi Feats for getting boots on the ground in Reno and actually inspecting the wreckage instead of just speculating from a photo. When a surveillance pole falls over in a downtown corridor — and the creator says this is the second time it's happened — that's not a random fluke, it's a pattern worth asking hard questions about. Who approved the installation? What engineering review, if any, happened before a camera capable of logging every passing plate went up on a stick in a public sidewalk?
This matters beyond the obvious safety hazard of a pole crashing down where pedestrians and cars pass by. Flock's whole business model relies on quietly blanketing towns with hardware fast, often with minimal public input, minimal permitting scrutiny, and vendor-driven contracts that prioritize speed over durability or accountability. If the poles holding these cameras can't reliably stay upright, it's a pretty good sign the broader rollout process — the one deciding where your daily movements get logged — isn't getting much scrutiny either.
If you want to see whether a Flock camera is already watching your commute, check our camera map, and if you'd rather your city not have any more toppling surveillance poles on its sidewalks, our take-action page has steps for pushing back at the local level.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of Lufi Feats, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.