Our Flock camera investigation sparks police firings, arrests
The short version: TC Palm highlights USA Today's probe into abusive Flock camera searches that got officers fired and arrested — and Flock's response was to hide the data, not fix the problem.
Our Take
Credit to TC Palm for amplifying USA Today's reporting on what happens when you actually dig into Flock's search logs: officers running plates for personal reasons, exes, ex-partners, curiosity, you name it. Some got fired. Some got arrested. That's not a glitch in the system — that's the system working exactly as designed, because the design assumes good faith and gives almost nobody independent oversight until a reporter forces the issue.
The real headline buried in this story is Flock's reaction: instead of opening up and fixing audit trails, the company moved to block release of the very data that exposed the misuse. That's the pattern we track constantly — a private surveillance vendor deciding, after the fact, what the public is allowed to know about how its own network of cameras is being used against them.
If a few isolated investigations can surface this many abuses, imagine what's happening in the departments nobody's checking. Look up what's watching your own streets on our camera map, and if you want to push back on secrecy like this, start with our take-action resources.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of TC Palm, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.