Flock cameras backlash and funding issues #SNL #shorts
The short version: A viral short from Car González pokes fun at Flock Safety's funding woes, but the underlying backlash over ALPR surveillance is dead serious.
Our Take
When a topic gets the SNL-style sketch treatment, it's usually because enough regular people are fed up to make it culturally recognizable. Car González's short leans into the comedy of Flock Safety's funding controversies, but the punchline only lands because communities across the country have been pushing back against these camera networks for real — at city council meetings, in budget hearings, and in op-eds asking why millions of dollars are flowing into license plate readers instead of, say, mental health services or road repairs.
Funding fights matter because they're one of the few levers the public still has. Once a city signs a multi-year Flock contract, the cameras go up fast and the data starts flowing to police departments, federal agencies, and sometimes other states entirely — often with little transparency about who's actually looking at your travel patterns. A joke about budget backlash is really a joke about accountability, or the lack of it.
If this clip made you laugh, let it also make you curious. Check our camera map to see what's been installed near you, and visit take action for ways to show up at the budget meetings that actually decide whether this surveillance expands or gets reined in.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of Car González, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.