Benn Jordan & a Cop: Can We Trust Police Surveillance?

Our Take

Credit where it's due: Benn Jordan sitting down with Sgt. Erik Lavigne on Two Cops One Donut to actually ask "who's watching the watchers" is a more honest conversation than most police departments ever allow. But we'd caution readers not to mistake a cordial, well-produced interview for genuine oversight. A single sympathetic officer answering questions on camera doesn't tell you whether his department audits search logs, whether footage gets shared with ICE or out-of-state agencies, or whether a councilmember ever actually read the vendor contract before voting yes.

That's the structural problem with ALPR and Flock Safety networks: the "trust us" model runs on goodwill from individual cops, not enforceable rules. Policies get written, then quietly ignored. Data retention windows stretch. Mission creep happens one "just this once" lookup at a time. The only real check is public records requests, local ordinances with teeth, and residents who know these cameras exist in the first place.

If this video gets you thinking about what's parked at the end of your street, go look for yourself on our camera map and then push your city council for the kind of audit trail that a friendly chat on a podcast can't guarantee. Surveillance accountability isn't a conversation — it's a policy fight, and it's won locally.