Flock vs automated license plate readers: What are they, and who are they for?

Our Take

Credit to WPDE ABC15 for putting the plain question on air: these cameras are marketed as public safety tools, but the public rarely gets a say in where they go up, who can query them, or how long the data sits in a database. Local news segments like this one matter because most people still don't know a Flock camera is bolted to a pole in their neighborhood until someone points it out.

That's the real story underneath the "what are they, who are they for" framing. ALPRs aren't just snapping a photo of a plate — they're logging time, date, and location every time you drive past, building a movement history on anyone, whether or not you've ever been suspected of a crime. Local police departments sign contracts with Flock, but the data doesn't always stay local; it can be shared across jurisdictions and agencies with very different rules about who gets to look at it.

If a segment like this leaves you wondering whether your own street has one of these cameras, stop wondering and check our map. And if you want to push back on a system that was built with zero public vote in most towns, our take-action page has concrete steps for your next city council meeting.