The Cameras Reading Your License Plate (And Why LAPD Cancel). #Surveillance #Flock
The short version: A new video from Mading Thok breaks down why LAPD and other major departments are dropping Flock Safety contracts over data-sharing concerns, not camera performance.
Our Take
Mading Thok's video lands on the point we keep hammering: the camera on the pole was never really the issue. It's the network behind it — who gets access to your movements, how long that data sits in a database, and which agencies can query it without you ever knowing. When departments as large as LAPD start walking away, that's not a fluke, it's a signal that the risk calculus on ALPR contracts is shifting fast.
What's notable is that these cancellations aren't happening because the tech fails. They're happening because cities are waking up to the liability of running a mass surveillance system with murky data-sharing agreements, weak audit trails, and no real limits on who taps into the feed. That's the exact pattern we've documented over and over: a quiet rollout, a vague public safety pitch, then a slow reveal of just how far the data travels once it's collected.
If this video has you wondering whether there's a Flock camera near your own house or commute, check our map to see what's already been documented in your area. And if you want to push back on a contract before your city signs one — or get one cancelled like LAPD just did — our take-action page has the tools to get started.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of Mading Thok, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.