Flock Safety Used to Stalk Cop’s Ex
The short version: Maggie Anders reports on a case where a police officer allegedly exploited Flock Safety's ALPR network to track an ex-partner, exposing how easily these systems can be weaponized by insiders.
Our Take
Maggie Anders digs into a story that should alarm anyone who's been told ALPR networks are only used to catch car thieves and wanted felons: a cop allegedly turning Flock Safety's camera network into a personal tracking tool against an ex. This isn't a hypothetical. It's the predictable outcome of handing law enforcement a searchable, nationwide log of where people drive, when, and how often — with audit trails that are only as good as the agencies willing to actually check them.
Flock's pitch has always been that access is logged and misuse gets caught. But logs only matter if someone is looking, and departments have repeatedly shown they're reluctant to publicize or even investigate officers who abuse the system for personal reasons — stalking an ex, checking on a neighbor, running plates for a friend. The company sells trust; the record keeps showing why that trust is misplaced.
This is exactly the kind of story we track because it's not an edge case, it's the system working as designed, just pointed at the wrong target. If you want to see whether these cameras are watching your neighborhood, check our map, and if you think your city shouldn't be feeding a database that any badge can quietly abuse, head to take action.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of Maggie Anders, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.