WE love Flock Safety

Our Take

Credit to HAZIELK for putting a spotlight on Flock Safety, even if the title reads like it's dripping with irony. We'll let viewers judge the tone for themselves, but the fact that "loving" a surveillance company is even framed as a joke says something about where public opinion is heading. A few years ago, Flock's pitch — automated license plate readers quietly logging every car that passes — was sold purely as a neighborhood safety win. Now the sarcasm is doing a lot of the talking.

That shift matters. Flock's camera network has grown into one of the largest privately-run surveillance systems in the country, feeding plate data into a searchable database that law enforcement agencies — and sometimes HOAs and private clients — can query without most residents ever knowing a camera went up on their street. Whether a video is cheering this on or mocking it, the underlying reality doesn't change: more data, more retention, more opportunities for abuse, and precious little public oversight on how long it's kept or who gets access.

If you want to know whether your own neighborhood has been wired up, check our camera map before you take anyone's word for it — sarcastic or not. And if you'd rather not wait for the joke to land, head to take-action for concrete steps to push back on ALPR expansion where you live.