OREGON CITY PERMANENTLY REMOVES FLOCK CAMERAS AFTER DISCOVERING FEDERAL AGENCIES WERE ACCESSING THEM
The short version: An Oregon city reportedly yanked its Flock ALPR cameras after learning federal agencies could tap into the data, a cautionary tale every local council should heed.
Our Take
Credit to YouTuber Devin for surfacing this one: a city in Oregon apparently pulled its Flock Safety cameras for good after realizing federal agencies had access to the local plate-reading network. If accurate, it's a textbook example of what we've been warning about since this site launched — local governments sign up for "community safety" cameras without fully grasping that Flock's network-sharing defaults and nationwide search features can let outside agencies, including federal ones, query local data without a warrant or local sign-off.
This isn't a one-off glitch. Flock markets itself on interoperability — the ability for one agency's cameras to be searched by thousands of others across the country. That's a feature to Flock's sales team and a nightmare to anyone who cares about Fourth Amendment protections or wants their city council, not an opaque federal-local data pipeline, controlling who sees their comings and goings. When local officials find out after the fact that ICE, CBP, or other federal bodies had a door into their system, the right response is exactly what this city reportedly did: rip it out.
Every town with a Flock contract should be asking the same questions right now — who audits access logs, what agencies are in the sharing network, and can the public actually find out? If your city has these cameras, check our camera map to see what's already deployed near you, and use our take-action guide to push your council for answers before you become the next case study.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of Devin, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.