WSAZ Investigates | County officials wary of Flock cameras
The short version: West Virginia county officials are pumping the brakes on Flock cameras, and WSAZ NewsChannel 3's reporting shows why local skepticism matters.
Our Take
Credit to WSAZ NewsChannel 3 for doing what more local newsrooms should: asking county officials hard questions before the cameras go up, not after. When elected officials start getting wary of Flock's pitch, it's usually because someone finally read the contract, asked about data retention, or wondered aloud who else gets access to a county's license plate reads once they're sitting in Flock's cloud.
This is exactly the pattern we track at DeFlock — a vendor shows up with a slick public-safety pitch, a county signs on fast, and only later do commissioners start asking who audits the system, how long footage is kept, and whether neighboring agencies or federal partners can query it without a warrant. Healthy skepticism from local government is a feature, not a bug, and it's worth amplifying every time it shows up on camera.
If you're in a county weighing a Flock contract, or just want to see how many cameras are already watching your commute, check our map and bring the data to your next commission meeting. Public records requests and public comment periods are still the best tools residents have before the cameras are bolted down for good — see our take-action resources to get started.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of WSAZ NewsChannel 3, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.