Are vandals winning the war on Flock cameras?

Our Take

CNN putting a camera in front of a masked activist calling themselves NoMark says a lot about where this debate has landed. When people feel like the normal channels — city council meetings, public comment, open records requests — aren't working, some start looking for other ways to push back. We get the frustration. Flock Safety's network has expanded into thousands of communities with little public debate, often approved in a single council vote with no real study of misuse, data-sharing, or First Amendment chilling effects. That vacuum breeds exactly the kind of backlash CNN is covering.

But let's be clear: cutting wires or smashing cameras doesn't slow down the surveillance state, it hands Flock and local police a sympathetic headline and a reason to double down on "protecting infrastructure." Vandalism makes for good TV, but it's not a strategy. The actual leverage is in knowing exactly where these cameras are, documenting how they're used, and organizing constituents to demand audits, sunset clauses, and public data on ALPR searches. That's slower and less dramatic than what NoMark is doing, but it's what actually changes policy.

If you want to do something that sticks, start by checking our camera map to see what's already watching your neighborhood, then use our take-action guide to push your city council for transparency instead of waiting for someone else to grab a wrench.