'Get the Flock out' Protesters rally outside of City Hall against license plate readers
The short version: San Diego residents rallied at City Hall demanding the city dump its Flock Safety ALPR contract over surveillance and privacy fears.
Our Take
Credit to CBS 8 San Diego for getting cameras on the ground as San Diego residents showed up at City Hall with signs reading 'Get the Flock Out,' demanding the city tear up its contract with Flock Safety. This is grassroots pushback in one of the country's larger ALPR deployments, and it's exactly the kind of local accountability moment that rarely makes it past the city council agenda, let alone onto the evening news.
San Diego isn't an isolated case. City after city signs these contracts quietly, often sold as a tool for solving specific crimes, and then residents discover the network is scanning every plate that passes, building a searchable log of where everyone drives, parks, and visits — with little independent oversight of who accesses that data and why. Protesters showing up in person, outside, in front of their own government, is a sign that patience with vague reassurances is running thin.
If you want to see whether Flock or similar ALPR cameras are already watching your own neighborhood, check our camera map. And if San Diego's fight has you wanting to push back where you live, our take-action guide walks through how to raise this with your own city council before the next contract renewal sails through unnoticed.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of CBS 8 San Diego, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.