August 12, 2021 Police Department Town Hall- Flock Cameras

Our Take

City-produced town halls like this one from Morgan Hill are basically infomercials with a government seal on them. Credit to CityOfMorganHill for keeping the recording public, but notice what these presentations almost never include: independent audit results, a clear breakdown of who else can query the data, or a real conversation about how long plate scans sit in a database before someone decides to share them with another agency or a federal contractor. "Community engagement" sessions tend to walk residents through crime-solving anecdotes and skip the retention policy fine print.

This pattern isn't unique to Morgan Hill. Departments across the country roll out Flock networks using nearly identical talking points, then quietly expand camera counts and data-sharing agreements once the town hall news cycle fades. Four years on, it's worth asking whether Morgan Hill's system looks anything like what was promised in that 2021 meeting, or whether it's grown well past the original pitch — a common trajectory for ALPR deployments.

If you live near Morgan Hill or anywhere else with Flock hardware, don't rely on a single town hall slide deck for the full picture. Check our camera map to see what's actually been deployed near you, and use our take-action resources to push your local council for real transparency — audit logs, retention limits, and public reporting, not just a friendly presentation.