New footage shows the arrest of Jevon Martinez (who has a truck full of cut-down Flock cameras)

Our Take

Credit to the Orwell Day channel for surfacing this footage, which shows the arrest of Jevon Martinez after police allegedly found a truck bed full of cut-down Flock Safety cameras. Whatever you think of the method, the underlying anger is worth paying attention to. People are increasingly aware that these poles aren't traffic safety equipment — they're a privatized, always-on tracking system logging where your car goes, who you visit, and when, often without your city council ever holding a real public debate about it.

We don't endorse vigilante removal of hardware — it's illegal, it puts the person doing it at serious legal risk, and it doesn't address the actual problem, which is policy. Companies like Flock keep expanding their footprint because most residents have no idea how many of these cameras are already watching their block, who has access to the data, or how long it's retained. That's the gap we try to close.

If you want to see what's actually deployed near you, check our camera map, and if you'd rather fight this through your city council instead of a pair of bolt cutters, our take-action page has the tools to do it the legal way — and it actually works.