This Ain't Your Average Camera-Truth About Flock Cameras From A Cop

Our Take

Credit to R.C Entertainment for getting a law enforcement perspective on camera, even an informal one, since most Flock coverage comes from either company press releases or privacy advocates. When an officer is willing to talk candidly about how these networks actually get used day to day, it's worth paying attention, because the gap between how Flock is marketed to city councils and how it functions on the street is exactly where the accountability problems live.

We don't know the specifics of what's said in this video, and we're not going to put words in anyone's mouth. But the broader pattern holds: once a city stands up a network of automated plate readers, the data doesn't stay contained to the narrow use case pitched at the budget hearing. It gets queried, shared, and repurposed in ways that outlast any single officer's intentions. That's not a knock on individual cops, it's a structural problem with building mass surveillance infrastructure first and asking questions about oversight later.

If you're in San Diego or anywhere else wondering whether Flock cameras are already watching your commute, check our map to see what's been documented near you, and if you want to push back on a system rolling out in your city, our take-action guide walks through how to raise it with your local council before it's a done deal.