Morning Minute: Privacy concerns are raised over the city's use of Flock Safety Cameras
The short version: A Bakersfield morning news brief flags local pushback on Flock Safety ALPRs, folded in between DUI stats and Amtrak funding — a sign surveillance worries are going mainstream.
Our Take
Credit to KBAK/KBFX Eyewitness News in Bakersfield for even giving this a few seconds of airtime. It's telling that a 'Morning Minute' segment, sandwiched between DUI checkpoint results and Amtrak funding news, now has room for 'privacy concerns' about license plate readers. That's not a fringe talking point anymore — it's local news treating camera surveillance as a civic issue worth a mention, even if the segment itself stays brief and doesn't dig into specifics.
The frustrating part is how often these stories stop at 'concerns were raised' without naming who owns the data, how long it's kept, which agencies can query it, or whether the city council ever held a real public hearing before the cameras went up. Bakersfield residents deserve more than a thirty-second acknowledgment that people are uneasy — they deserve an accounting of what Flock's network is actually capturing on their streets and who gets to look at it.
If you're in Kern County or anywhere else wondering whether Flock cameras are already watching your commute, check our camera map to see what's been documented nearby, and visit our take-action page if you want to push your local council for real transparency instead of a morning minute.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of KBAK - KBFX - Eyewitness News - BakersfieldNow, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.