Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer Addresses Flock Camera Data-Sharing Concerns

Our Take

Credit to GV Wire publisher Darius Assemi for putting Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer on the record about Flock Safety's license plate readers and who gets access to the data they collect. That's exactly the kind of local accountability reporting this issue needs more of, especially in a city that's leaned hard into ALPR coverage. But we'd note a pattern that shows up in nearly every one of these sit-downs: the person answering questions about whether a surveillance system is being misused is the same person whose department runs it. That's not oversight, that's a press conference.

Data-sharing is the real fault line here. Flock's value proposition to police departments is the network effect — the more agencies plug in, the more plates get tracked across jurisdictions, often with little public visibility into which outside agencies, including federal ones, can query a local city's camera feed. Mayors and police chiefs can promise narrow use all day, but promises aren't policy, and policy without independent audits and public logs is just a comfort blanket. If Fresno residents want real answers, they need access to audit trails, not just a mayor's assurances on camera.

Fresno isn't unique — this is the same conversation playing out in city councils across the country as Flock's footprint grows. Check our camera map to see what's been documented near you, and if you want to push your own city for real transparency instead of talking points, our take-action page has a place to start.