Police investigate theft of three Flock cameras in Auburn
The short version: ABC10 reports Auburn police are hunting suspects who yanked three Flock ALPR cameras off their poles, a small act with big symbolism about public unease over mass plate surveillance.
Our Take
Credit to ABC10 for covering this, but let's be honest about what's really newsworthy here: it's not the theft itself, it's the fact that someone in Auburn was angry enough — or worried enough — about these cameras to physically remove three of them in one night. That doesn't happen to traffic signals or streetlights. It happens to surveillance infrastructure that residents never got a real vote on.
Flock Safety cameras get installed quietly, usually sold to city councils as a crime-fighting tool, with little public debate about who else gets access to the data: insurance companies, federal agencies, sometimes even out-of-state police hunting people for things that aren't crimes where they live. When a community starts losing trust in that pitch, this is what frustration can look like. It's not a tactic we're endorsing, but it's a signal local officials should be reading loud and clear.
If you want to know whether Auburn — or your own city — is already blanketed in these readers, check our camera map. And if you'd rather push back through your city council instead of a pair of pliers, our take-action page has the tools to make your voice count.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of ABC10, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.