Update on the man that took down flock cameras in Bernalillo, New Mexico #newmexico #albuquerque

Our Take

News Guy Johnny's follow-up on the Bernalillo camera takedown is worth watching because it shows what happens after the headlines fade — the legal fallout, the local reaction, the question of whether anyone actually asked residents if they wanted this equipment bolted to their roads in the first place. We don't know all the facts of the case, and we're not going to speculate on the specifics beyond what's in the video. But the underlying story is familiar: a resident gets fed up with a surveillance system he never consented to, and takes matters into his own hands.

That frustration isn't happening in a vacuum. Flock Safety cameras have spread into thousands of towns with little public debate, often approved by a city council or sheriff's office with minimal scrutiny of data retention, access logs, or who else gets to query the system. When people feel like the only way to push back is vigilante action against hardware, that's a sign the normal channels — public comment, FOIA requests, city council votes — aren't working the way they should.

If you want to know whether your own neighborhood has been wired up without a real conversation, check our camera map. And if you'd rather fight this with paperwork instead of pliers, our take-action page has the tools to push your local government for transparency before it becomes another Bernalillo.