Get the Flock out of here

Our Take

Stand and Bang News is putting a camera on something we hear about constantly: councils and commissions voting to bolt Flock Safety cameras onto their towns before most residents even know a vote happened. The title says it plainly — "the people didn't ask for this" — and that's the pattern across the country. Contracts get signed in consent-agenda votes, press releases call it a "public safety tool," and the actual debate about constant location tracking never happens in public until it's already installed.

That's the core problem with how Flock has scaled so fast. These aren't neighborhood watch cameras — they're networked license plate readers that log every car that passes, build a searchable movement history, and share data across jurisdictions and sometimes with federal agencies. Once a county votes yes, opting out later is a fight, not a formality. The frustration this video documents is the same frustration we hear in public comment periods everywhere: people want a say before the hardware goes up, not after.

If your town is quietly adding Flock cameras, check our map to see what's already nearby, and use our action resources to push for a real public vote before the next contract gets rubber-stamped. Credit to Stand and Bang News for giving residents' anger a platform — that pressure is exactly what makes officials slow down and actually listen.