Police Abuse of Surveillance Cameras Exposed #shorts
The short version: A short video from Auditing Reno 911 spotlights how easily Flock Safety's ALPR network can be turned into a tool for personal stalking and retaliation by those with access.
Our Take
Credit to Auditing Reno 911 for putting a spotlight on something we've been warning about for a while: the gap between how Flock Safety markets its cameras — as a tool for solving serious crime — and how the system can actually be used once it's plugged into a police department. A nationwide ALPR network doesn't just read plates, it builds a searchable log of where you drive, when, and how often. That's an irresistible temptation for the one cop with a grudge, a messy divorce, or an ex who wants to know where you've been.
This is the quiet danger of mass surveillance infrastructure: it's not primarily about the rare bad actor getting caught, it's about the fact that thousands of people now have query access to your movements with minimal oversight and, in many departments, no real audit trail that the public can see. Flock's own audit logs are only as good as the agency's willingness to review them, and self-policing has a long history of failing exactly the people it's supposed to protect.
If a video like this makes you uneasy, that's the correct reaction. Go see whether these cameras are already watching your commute on our camera map, and if you want to push back on your local department's use of this tech, our take-action page has concrete steps for showing up at city council and demanding real transparency.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of Auditing Reno 911, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.