Why I’m helping The Morning Call sue for Flock camera data | Reporters Committee
The short version: A Reporters Committee attorney explains why he's backing The Morning Call's lawsuit to pry Flock ALPR data loose from secretive local police records practices.
Our Take
This video, from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, pulls back the curtain on something DeFlock readers already know in their bones: Flock Safety's camera networks run on a foundation of opacity. When a newsroom like The Morning Call has to sue just to find out how license plate data is being collected, shared, and searched in its own community, that tells you everything about how little transparency agencies volunteer on their own.
Public records fights like this matter because ALPR systems don't just watch cars — they build a searchable history of where people go, who they visit, and when. Without journalists and lawyers forcing disclosure, that history stays locked behind vague policies, vendor contracts, and law enforcement discretion. Every lawsuit that pries loose logs, audit trails, or usage data is also a map of who's watching you and why.
We'd encourage readers to see this as part of the same fight we're waging with our own tools — check the map to see what's already been documented near you, and if you want to push back locally, our take action page has concrete steps, including how to file your own records requests.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of Reporters Committee, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.