Flock camera meeting ends in boos in New Bedford
The short version: A New Bedford public meeting on Flock Safety cameras reportedly broke down into boos, a sign that resident patience with rushed ALPR rollouts is wearing thin.
Our Take
Credit to NBC 10 WJAR for capturing what happens when a city tries to sell a mass-surveillance rollout as a routine agenda item: residents push back, hard. We don't have the full transcript, but a council or community meeting on Flock Safety cameras ending in boos says a lot on its own. These cameras don't just watch for stolen cars — they log every plate that passes, building a searchable record of where you drive, when, and how often, often with little public input before the contracts get signed.
New Bedford isn't unique. City after city has approved Flock deals in quiet budget line items, only to face backlash once residents realize the scope of what's being installed on their streets — gas-station cameras, fire-hydrant poles, intersections near schools and churches. The anger in that room isn't irrational; it's what happens when people feel surveillance infrastructure got approved around them instead of with them.
If you want to see whether your own neighborhood already has these cameras quietly logging your movements, check our camera map. And if New Bedford's pushback inspires you to show up at your own council meeting, our take-action page has the tools to help you make noise before the contract is signed, not after.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of NBC 10 WJAR, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.