Man dressed as Darth Vader tells city council members that the emperor is a “fan of Flock'
The short version: A Darth Vader-costumed speaker used humor at a San Diego City Council meeting to warn that Flock Safety's ALPR network serves surveillance ambitions as sweeping as the Empire's, per KTVOtv.
Our Take
Credit to KTVOtv for capturing a moment that says more about public sentiment than any council memo could: a resident in a full Darth Vader costume stepping up to the mic to declare that "the emperor is a fan of Flock." It's a joke, sure, but it lands because it's not wrong. Flock Safety's camera networks have expanded city by city with little public debate, often sold as a tool for catching stolen cars but quietly building a searchable, retroactive map of everyone's movements — the kind of centralized tracking apparatus that wouldn't feel out of place in a galaxy far, far away.
Public comment theater like this matters because it cuts through the bureaucratic fog that usually surrounds ALPR contracts. Council members hear vendor pitches about "public safety" all the time; they don't as often hear a costumed constituent connecting the dots between automated plate readers and the kind of unaccountable surveillance state that pop culture has spent decades warning us about. Humor gets attention that a spreadsheet of data-retention policies never will, and San Diego residents clearly understood the assignment.
If your own city is quietly signing up for this network, it's worth finding out before the vote, not after. Check our camera map to see what's already been deployed near you, and visit take-action for ways to push back before your council becomes the next one fielding questions from the Empire's fan club.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of KTVOtv, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.