Flock cameras face backlash. #flockcameras #privacy #surveillance
The short version: A short clip from creator Jay LW captures growing public pushback against Flock Safety's ALPR network, echoing what we track nationwide.
Our Take
Creator Jay LW's clip is a snapshot of something we're seeing play out in city council meetings and neighborhood Facebook groups across the country: regular people waking up to the fact that a private company has quietly wired their town for automated tracking. The specifics of any one backlash story matter less than the pattern — once residents learn these cameras log every passing vehicle and feed that data into a searchable, often loosely governed network, the reaction is rarely enthusiasm.
That backlash is healthy and it's earned. Flock Safety has expanded into thousands of communities with minimal public debate, bundling plate readers with vague promises about solving crime while sidestepping harder questions about retention windows, audit logs, data sharing with ICE and other outside agencies, and what happens when access gets abused. A viral video can't settle those questions, but it can be the spark that gets a city council to actually ask them.
If this clip has you wondering whether your own street is being logged, check our camera map to see what's nearby, and head to our take-action page for concrete steps — public records requests, council talking points, and more — to push back where you live.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of Jay LW, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.