Greenwood again discusses Flock cameras
The short version: Greenwood's police chief wants to ditch Flock for Axon, but swapping ALPR vendors doesn't fix the underlying mass surveillance problem.
Our Take
Credit to 5NEWS for keeping local eyes on this story, but let's be clear about what's actually happening in Greenwood: this isn't a surveillance rollback, it's a vendor shuffle. Whether the plate-reading cameras say "Flock" or "Axon" on the side, the same fundamental issue remains — a network of cameras logging every vehicle that passes, building a searchable database of where residents go and when, with little public input on how that data gets used, shared, or retained.
Police chiefs recommending a switch often cite price, features, or contract terms. Rarely do they ask the more basic question: should a city be running a dragnet on its own residents' movements at all? Axon's ALPR tech raises the same red flags as Flock's — data-sharing agreements with other agencies, potential access by federal immigration enforcement, and the risk of mission creep from "stolen cars" to tracking anyone a department finds interesting. Trading one surveillance vendor for another doesn't put a single one of those concerns to rest.
If you live in Greenwood or anywhere considering this kind of system, don't let the vendor name distract from the real debate. Check our camera map to see what's already watching your area, and hit up our take-action page for tools to push back before your city council rubber-stamps the next contract — Axon or otherwise.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of 5NEWS, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.