Surveillance Cameras Are All Over America ... and Cops Are Misusing Them, Feat. Joseph Cox
The short version: Slate's What Next: TBD breaks down how Flock's ALPR network has ballooned into an $8.4 billion surveillance dragnet that cops are already abusing, and communities are finally pushing back.
Our Take
Slate's video team lays out something we've been shouting about for years: Flock Safety isn't just a license plate reader anymore, it's a nationwide tracking system with more than 7,000 institutional customers, and police are the biggest buyers by far. What's notable here is that a mainstream outlet like Slate is now saying plainly what critics have argued all along, that these cameras log more than plates. They build travel patterns, capture vehicle details, and feed a searchable database that departments across state lines can tap into with almost no oversight.
The misuse angle is the part that should worry every reader. When cops can query a nationwide network without a warrant, the temptation to go fishing, for an ex, a journalist, an activist, a stranger, is baked into the system. We've reported on exactly this kind of abuse before, and it's not hypothetical anymore; it's showing up in public records requests and local news across the country. The fact that city councils and residents are now standing up at meetings and demanding transparency is a genuinely hopeful sign that this fight isn't lost.
Credit to Slate's What Next: TBD team for putting this in front of a wider audience. If you want to see whether Flock or similar ALPR systems are already watching your street, check our camera map, and if you're ready to push back locally, our take-action guide walks you through exactly how to do it.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of Slate, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.