Flock Safety scrutiny ramps up in RI, Mass.
The short version: WPRI's Lauren Brill reports that lawmakers and residents in Rhode Island and Massachusetts are finally asking hard questions about Flock Safety's ALPR network.
Our Take
Credit to Lauren Brill and the WPRI 12 team for pushing this story into the local news cycle. Every time a statehouse or city council starts asking who owns the data, who can access it, and why a private company is running what amounts to a regional surveillance dragnet, that's a win for basic accountability. Southern New England has been quietly blanketed with these cameras, and most drivers have no idea their movements are being logged block by block.
What makes this kind of local scrutiny matter is that Flock's business model depends on nobody looking too closely. Quiet city council votes, vague 'public safety partnership' language, and data-sharing agreements that cross state lines and even feed federal databases — it all works best in the dark. Reporters asking pointed questions in Rhode Island and Massachusetts are doing the work that too many elected officials skip.
If you're in New England or anywhere else, check our camera map to see what's already been installed near you, and hit up our take-action page if you want to push your own city council to answer the same questions WPRI is asking now.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of WPRI, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.