Man pitches '#shepherd Safety' to city council—a service that tracks politicians the exact same
The short version: A speaker's satirical 'Shepherd Safety' pitch flips the ALPR script on city council members, exposing the double standard at the heart of mass surveillance.
Our Take
Credit to RWT - News for capturing a tactic more residents should try: turn the surveillance pitch around. If tracking every car that passes a camera is fine for 'public safety,' then applying that same logic to the politicians who approve it should be just as acceptable, right? The discomfort that idea provokes in a council chamber says everything about how these systems are actually sold and defended.
Flock and its imitators always frame ALPR networks as neutral, universally beneficial tools. But neutrality evaporates fast when the lens turns toward the people in power instead of the public. That asymmetry — mass tracking for citizens, none for officials — is the tell. It's not about safety infrastructure, it's about who gets watched and who doesn't.
Stunts like this are valuable because they force a public admission that surveillance defenders would rather avoid. If your city council is weighing an ALPR contract, don't wait for a gotcha moment — check our camera map to see what's already watching your streets, and use our take-action resources to push back before the vote happens.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of RWT - News, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.