My Concerns About Flock Cameras in New Hope
The short version: A New Hope candidate's pushback shows that even 'clean' Flock audits can't quiet real worries about mission creep and data sharing.
Our Take
Brock Ray, running for office in New Hope, is doing something we wish more candidates would do: looking past the press release and asking what Flock's ALPR network actually means for his neighbors. It's notable that he's raising red flags even after an independent audit reportedly found 'strong safeguards' — because a policy on paper is only as good as the next city council vote, the next data-sharing agreement, or the next vendor update that quietly expands what the cameras can do.
That's the core problem with this technology everywhere, not just New Hope. Audits capture a snapshot in time. They don't account for mission creep, out-of-state data requests, or a future administration deciding tonight's 'safeguards' are tomorrow's inconvenience. Once a surveillance network is installed and normalized, rolling it back is far harder than approving it in the first place — which is exactly why local candidates willing to ask hard questions before the cameras go up matter so much.
Credit to Brock Ray for putting this on the record in his own community. If you want to see whether Flock or similar ALPR systems are already watching your streets, check our camera map, and if you'd rather not wait for an audit to find out the hard way, visit our take-action page for ways to push back before the vote, not after.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of Brock Ray for New Hope, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.