Morgan Hill sees better than expected crime reduction, thanks to Flock Safety
The short version: Flock's own promo video touts Morgan Hill crime stats, but a company grading its own surveillance network isn't independent proof it works—or that it's worth the privacy cost.
Our Take
This segment, produced by Flock Safety itself and aired on ABC7, is essentially a company advertisement dressed up as local news. When the surveillance vendor is also the source of the crime-reduction numbers, there's no independent audit, no methodology, and no mention of how many scans involved innocent drivers who had nothing to do with any crime. "Better than expected" is a marketing phrase, not a dataset.
Morgan Hill isn't unique — cities across the country are fed similar success stories while the actual costs (mission creep, data sharing with other agencies, retention policies, and the sheer volume of plates scanned that have zero connection to crime) rarely make it into a 90-second clip. If a city council is being asked to renew or expand a Flock contract, these industry-produced testimonials shouldn't be treated as evidence.
Want to see how many of these cameras are already watching your own neighborhood? Check our camera map, and if you think your local government needs to hear pushback before the next contract vote, start with our take-action resources.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of Flock, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.