'I Need This So I Can Stalk My Ex-Girlfriend': 'Darth Vader' Backs Flock Cameras

Our Take

Forbes Breaking News caught a genuinely absurd moment from a San Diego City Council meeting: a public commenter in a full Darth Vader costume, deadpanning that he needs Flock cameras so he can stalk his ex-girlfriend. It's a joke, but it's the kind of joke that lands because it's true. Every time Flock's network expands, it hands out a new tool for anyone with database access — an officer, a dispatcher, a jealous ex with a badge or a friend with one — to track where a specific car has been, night after night, no warrant required.

That's not a hypothetical. Departments across the country have already had to discipline or fire employees caught running plates for personal reasons, checking up on partners, family members, or people they had a grudge against. San Diego's council may laugh off a guy in a cape, but the underlying point he made stuck a fork right into the sales pitch: these systems are marketed as crime-fighting tools, yet the audit logs and internal safeguards meant to stop misuse are thin, inconsistently enforced, and rarely made public.

Costume theatrics aside, this is exactly why public comment at city council meetings matters, and why residents pushing back on ALPR contracts deserve credit, sith lord getup or not. If you want to see whether Flock or similar cameras are already watching your neighborhood, check our camera map, and if your city is considering a contract, our take-action page has tools to help you speak up before the vote, no costume required.