Can the police commit crimes?
The short version: Orwell Day spotlights a sergeant who allegedly broke federal law sharing Flock data but walked free, exposing the double standard baked into ALPR enforcement.
Our Take
Credit to Orwell Day for digging into a case that cuts right to the rot at the center of the Flock surveillance apparatus: a police sergeant reportedly shared license plate reader photos with a federal agency in violation of the law, and nothing happened. No charges, no fine, no prison time — just a quiet pass. Meanwhile, the same agencies pushing these camera networks are more than happy to throw the book at ordinary people who dare to tamper with or disable the hardware watching their streets.
This is the two-tiered system that makes mass surveillance so corrosive. The rules only bite in one direction. Cops and federal partners can misuse databases, share data outside their stated purpose, and skip the audit trail — and the consequence is a shrug. But if a private citizen pulls a camera down or jams its view, that's prosecuted as a serious crime. The law isn't being applied evenly; it's being used as a leash, and only the public is wearing it.
If the people operating these networks won't police themselves, the burden falls on the rest of us to document where they are and demand accountability from local officials who approved them. Check our camera map to see what's watching your community, and hit up our take-action page if you're ready to push back through the front door — public comment, records requests, and local policy fights that actually stick.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of Orwell Day, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.