North Olmsted police tout Flock camera system after using the technology to track down stolen car
The short version: WKYC highlights a North Olmsted recovery as proof Flock works, but one feel-good clip doesn't answer who else's plate data got scanned along the way.
Our Take
WKYC Channel 3's report on North Olmsted police recovering a stolen car and arresting Deshawn Owens is the kind of story Flock Safety loves to see on the local news: a clean, dramatic win that makes the case for cameras on every corner. We're not disputing that ALPRs can help solve specific crimes. The problem is that local coverage almost never asks the harder question — how many innocent drivers' plates, travel patterns, and locations were logged and stored to make that one arrest possible.
That's the trade built into every Flock deployment. The system doesn't just watch for stolen cars and robbery suspects; it indiscriminately photographs and timestamps every vehicle that passes, building a searchable database of where ordinary people go, regardless of whether they've ever been suspected of anything. Police departments are happy to tout the hits. They're far less eager to talk about retention periods, audit logs, who else can query the data, or whether the agency has any real oversight beyond a press release.
If North Olmsted has Flock cameras, there's a good chance your town does too — check our camera map to see what's already watching your streets. And if you think your city council should be asking tougher questions before rubber-stamping the next contract, our take-action page has concrete steps for pushing back.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of WKYC Channel 3, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.