Sen. Josh Hawley Issues Warning on Flock AI Surveillance

Our Take

When a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hears warnings about Flock Safety's camera network, it's worth paying attention — not because Capitol Hill is about to shut the system down, but because it signals the issue is breaking out of its usual lane. Electron Media Group's clip of Sen. Josh Hawley raising alarms about an expanding AI surveillance apparatus is a reminder that this isn't just an ACLU talking point anymore. Concerns about automated license plate readers quietly logging every car that passes a camera, with little oversight on who can query that data or why, are starting to register with lawmakers who don't usually agree on much else.

We don't know yet what, if anything, comes out of this hearing. Senate subcommittees raise plenty of flags that never translate into legislation. But the optics matter: Flock's pitch to cities and police departments has always leaned on the idea that this is uncontroversial infrastructure, just traffic cameras doing traffic camera things. A sitting senator calling it out as part of a 'growing surveillance state' undercuts that framing in a way local city council meetings rarely do.

If you want to see how close this surveillance net actually is to your own neighborhood, check our camera map — and if you're ready to push back locally, our take-action page has the tools to start.