Trump on FLOCK Cameras: 'Pros and Cons' Controversy

Our Take

When a sitting president gets asked about license plate reader cameras on camera, you know this issue has broken out of city council meetings and into the national conversation. Credit to MMPAL for capturing the clip, but let's be honest about what 'pros and cons' actually means here: it's the classic answer of someone who hasn't grappled with what a nationwide, privately-run surveillance network searchable by thousands of police agencies actually does to ordinary people's movements.

There's nothing balanced about a system with a documented track record of misuse, data sharing with agencies who lie about it, and zero meaningful audit trail for the public. Framing Flock as a two-sided debate is exactly how these networks keep expanding unchecked — treated as a neutral tool rather than what it is, a mass tracking infrastructure that was never put to a public vote in most of the towns now blanketed with it.

If national politicians are finally weighing in, that's an opening, not a resolution. Check our camera map to see how far this has spread near you, and use our take-action resources to make sure your local officials hear the 'cons' side loud and clear.