Flock Installer Calls 911 on Atlanta News Crew
The short version: A Flock installer reportedly dialed 911 on an Atlanta news crew for simply filming public infrastructure, a reaction that says a lot about the secrecy baked into this surveillance rollout.
Our Take
Credit to the channel Wont Stop for surfacing this clip, which reportedly shows a contractor installing Flock Safety cameras in Atlanta calling the police on a local news crew that was doing nothing more than filming equipment visible from a public street. If the account holds up, it's a telling moment: a private vendor treating basic journalism, and by extension public accountability, as a threat worthy of a 911 call.
These cameras are bankrolled with public money, mounted on public poles, and used to feed license plate data into databases that can be queried by police departments across the country. That's about as public-interest a subject as it gets. When the people installing this infrastructure react to a camera pointed back at them by summoning law enforcement, it exposes a defensiveness that should make every resident ask why a company so uncomfortable with scrutiny is the one building a nationwide surveillance net in their town.
This is exactly the kind of friction we expect to see more of as communities wake up to what's being bolted onto their streetlights with little public debate. If you want to see what's already been installed near you, check our camera map, and if your city is considering a Flock contract, our take-action resources can help you push back before the cameras go up.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of Wont Stop, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.