Eastpointe ends Flock Safety contract after employees misused license plate reader system
The short version: Eastpointe dumped its Flock Safety contract after cops abused license plate reader access, proving these systems are only as trustworthy as the humans running them.
Our Take
Credit to Click On Detroit | Local 4 | WDIV for reporting on Eastpointe, Michigan pulling the plug on Flock Safety after discovering employees misused the license plate reader network. This is the story ALPR vendors don't want you to hear: the tech doesn't just watch criminals, it watches everyone, and the people with the keys to that data aren't immune to temptation or abuse.
Flock and its peers love to sell these systems as neutral tools that only flag stolen cars and Amber Alerts. But every camera is a honeypot of location data on ordinary people, and every login is a potential point of failure. When police departments treat that data as their own private surveillance toy instead of a narrowly scoped public safety tool, misuse isn't a hypothetical, it's a matter of when. Eastpointe found out the hard way, and the city deserves credit for actually canceling the contract instead of issuing a toothless apology and moving on.
This should be a wake-up call for every city council currently rubber-stamping Flock renewals without real audit requirements, access logs, or public oversight. If your town has these cameras, you have a right to know who's looking at your movements and why. Check our camera map to see what's near you, and hit up our take-action page for ways to push your local officials toward real accountability before your city becomes the next headline.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of Click On Detroit | Local 4 | WDIV, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.