Working as Intended - Flock Safety is Getting People Killed
The short version: A Flock alert functioning exactly as designed nearly got someone killed, proving the danger isn't a glitch — it's the system itself.
Our Take
Greasy Finger Garage lays out a scenario that should terrify anyone who's been told ALPR networks make us safer: a Flock alert fired, officers responded, and an automotive journalist ended up staring down the barrel of a gun over a "hit" that was functioning exactly as intended. Not a software bug. Not a one-off human error. The system did its job, and it nearly got someone killed. That distinction matters because Flock Safety's entire PR strategy rests on the idea that failures are rare glitches to be patched, not predictable outcomes baked into the design.
When a network built on mass license plate scanning treats every car as a probable suspect and pushes that assumption straight to an officer's dashboard with lights already flashing, you've engineered a hair-trigger. No consent, no warrant, no human judgment before the data starts driving tactical decisions. The people selling this technology to your city council rarely mention that "working correctly" and "someone could die" aren't mutually exclusive outcomes — they're often the same outcome.
Credit to Greasy Finger Garage for pulling this thread and putting a face on what's usually an abstract privacy debate. If you want to see how saturated your own neighborhood is with these cameras, check our map, and if you're ready to push back on your local deployment, our take-action page has the tools to start.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of Greasy Finger Garage, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.