From Breakfast to Safer Cities: How One Conversation Sparked a Journey to Build Thriving Communities
The short version: Flock's own Chief Communications Officer narrates a feel-good origin story about surveillance expansion, dressed up as community empowerment.
Our Take
This one's straight from the source: Flock Safety's Chief Communications Officer Josh Thomas sitting down with Director of Communications Holly Beilin for an internal-feeling fireside chat about how he got "tricked" into joining the company and fell in love with the mission. It's a recruitment video and brand story wearing the clothes of a public safety documentary, and credit where it's due — Flock knows how to make a dragnet sound like a breakfast club.
The language is the real product here: "trust," "transparency," "thriving communities," "empowering" towns with technology. What's conspicuously absent is any mention of retention periods, who gets access to the data, how many agencies share plates across state lines, or what happens when the system gets it wrong. Amber Alerts make great marketing copy. They don't require a camera on every corner logging every car that passes, which is what's actually being rolled out in the name of that warm feeling.
We'd rather you hear from the people living under these networks than from the company selling them. If you want to know whether this "journey to safer cities" has already arrived in your neighborhood, check our camera map, and if you're ready to push back on a city council vote or records request, our take-action guide is built for exactly that.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of Flock, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.