Flock Safety's Condor Cameras TRACK People in Bakersfield
The short version: Flock Off's Bakersfield investigation suggests Flock's 'Condor' cameras do far more than snap static plate photos—raising fresh questions about real-time human tracking.
Our Take
Credit to the creators at Flock Off for digging into Bakersfield's camera network and pressure-testing Flock Safety's go-to talking point: that these systems only capture still images of license plates. If Condor-equipped cameras are capable of tracking people and vehicles in something closer to real time, that's a meaningful departure from the 'just a digital license plate' pitch Flock gives city councils and skeptical residents.
This matters because the entire public case for ALPR networks rests on narrow, limited use — plate numbers, not persistent movement tracking of actual human beings. Once a system can follow a car (and by extension, the people in it) across a city with little oversight, you've built an infrastructure for mass surveillance, full stop, regardless of what the marketing deck says. And once that infrastructure exists, mission creep is not a hypothetical — it's the default outcome.
We'd rather residents see this for themselves than take either Flock's or any outlet's word for it. Check our camera map to see what's already watching your own streets, and visit our take-action page if you want to push back at your next city council meeting.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of Flock Off, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.