Flock cameras: Who is watching the watchers?
The short version: A Toledo I-TEAM segment with InvestigateTV's Brendan Keefe asks the question every city council should be asking: who actually audits Flock and its police customers?
Our Take
Credit to WTVG 13 Action News in Toledo for putting a camera on the camera network. The I-TEAM's conversation with InvestigateTV's Brendan Keefe gets at the question that keeps getting dodged in city council chambers everywhere Flock sets up shop: once these ALPR systems are installed, who is actually checking that police are using them the way they promised? Vendor self-reporting and quarterly usage reports reviewed by the same agency that bought the system isn't oversight, it's a courtesy.
This is the structural problem with Flock's rollout model nationwide. Departments get a slick dashboard, a few canned audit logs, and a PR line about 'solving crimes,' while actual independent review — an inspector general, a city auditor, a public records request that doesn't take six months to fulfill — is treated as optional. Keefe's reporting history on this beat matters precisely because local TV investigations are often the only check these systems get before they're quietly expanded to cover an entire metro area.
If your town has Flock cameras, or you're not sure, check our camera map to see what's already been documented nearby, and use our take-action guide to push your council for real audits, retention limits, and public access logs before the network grows any further.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of WTVG 13 Action News | Toledo, OH, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.