Flock Cameras: Who uses them and how?

Our Take

Credit to 13 ON YOUR SIDE for doing the unglamorous work of local accountability journalism — tracking down who's actually buying these systems and what they're used for before a city commission meeting instead of after the contract's already signed. This is exactly the kind of coverage that matters, because Flock's expansion has happened largely through quiet procurement decisions, not public debate. By the time most residents learn their town has a network of always-on license plate cameras feeding a searchable national database, it's already built.

That's the pattern nationwide: a police department or city council quietly approves a Flock contract, framed as a tool for solving car thefts or finding stolen vehicles, and only later do residents discover the fuller picture — that the data can be queried by outside agencies, retained for weeks, and used for purposes well beyond the original pitch. A public meeting like the one referenced here is one of the only points in the process where residents can actually ask questions and put elected officials on record before the cameras go up.

If you're in a community facing a similar vote, don't wait for the meeting to be the first time you hear about it. Check our camera map to see what's already been deployed near you, and use our take-action resources to figure out how to show up, ask the right questions, and push for real transparency before the vote — not after.