What are flock cameras?
The short version: A DeKalb student newsroom explains how local police use Flock cameras to log every passing plate, and why that routine surveillance deserves scrutiny.
Our Take
Credit to NIUNorthernStar's Assistant News Editor for doing what a lot of local outlets still won't: asking DeKalb Police plainly what these cameras are and what they're logging. That's the right first question for any community, because "scan and log license plates across the city, day and night" is a massive expansion of police capability that usually gets approved with zero public debate.
What rarely makes it into these local explainer segments is the back end: who can query that data, how long it's stored, whether it's shared with other agencies or federal databases, and what happens when the system misfires on an innocent driver. Flock markets itself as a tool for solving crimes after the fact, but the infrastructure it builds is a permanent, searchable record of where everyone goes — a capability no one voted for.
If you're in DeKalb or anywhere else, don't rely on the department's talking points alone. Check our camera map to see what's been documented near you, and visit take action for ways to push your city council for real transparency and accountability before this becomes just background noise.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of NIUNorthernStar, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.