Flock Surveillance Cameras | The Journal Gazette | The 260 on PBS Fort Wayne
The short version: PBS Fort Wayne's 'The 260' digs into who can access Fort Wayne's Flock ALPR data and how much it really collects, exposing familiar transparency gaps.
Our Take
Credit to PBS Fort Wayne and The Journal Gazette for doing what most local outlets still won't: actually asking who gets to see Flock's data and why. "The 260" segment pokes at the two questions that matter most in every one of these local rollouts — how much is being collected, and who's allowed to touch it. Those sound like basic accountability questions. In most cities, including Fort Wayne apparently, they still don't have clean answers.
That's the pattern nationwide. Police departments sign up for Flock's ALPR network promising it's just for stolen cars and Amber Alerts, then the audit logs show cross-agency sharing, out-of-state pulls, and query reasons that amount to "just checking." A city council can approve a camera contract without ever getting a straight answer on retention periods or who outside the department can dip into the database. Fort Wayne residents deserve those specifics in writing, not in a press release.
If you're in the Fort Wayne area, check whether these cameras are logging your daily routes on our camera map, and if you want to push your local officials for real oversight, our take-action page has the tools to start.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of PBS Fort Wayne, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.