Monterey County weighs 10-year Flock Safety deal as residents raise privacy fears
The short version: KSBW reports Monterey County is eyeing a decade-long Flock Safety contract, and residents are right to be alarmed by the length and scope of it.
Our Take
Ten years is a long time to lock a county into a surveillance contract, especially one involving a network of always-on cameras that log every vehicle passing through. Credit to KSBW Action News 8 for getting Monterey County residents on camera pushing back before the ink dries. That's exactly the moment when public pressure actually works — once a board signs a decade-long deal, the leverage disappears and so does the appetite for oversight.
A ten-year horizon means whatever data retention policies, audit rules, or "we'll only use it for X" promises exist today are locked in for a decade of mission creep, vendor upgrades, and personnel turnover — with almost no built-in off-ramp if the system gets misused or quietly expanded to feed other agencies, ICE included. Short contract terms with real renewal reviews are the bare minimum any county should demand before wiring itself into a private ALPR network for that long.
If you're in Monterey County or anywhere else wondering whether Flock cameras are already watching your commute, check our camera map, and if your local government is considering a similar deal, our take-action page has what you need to show up and ask the hard questions before a vote, not after.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of KSBW Action News 8, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.