Why does law enforcement consider Flock cameras "a gamechanger?"

Our Take

When local law enforcement calls a surveillance network a "gamechanger" on the evening news, that's worth pausing on. KOCO 5 News deserves credit for getting police on record about why they love Flock's ALPR cameras, but "gamechanger" is doing a lot of quiet work in that sentence. It means police now have a searchable, retroactive record of where your car has been — not just when you're suspected of a crime, but every single day, whether you've done anything wrong or not.

That's the part these local segments rarely unpack. The cameras aren't just catching stolen cars; they're building a permanent movement history on every driver who passes through town, accessible to an expanding web of agencies with little public oversight of who queries it, why, or how long the data sits around. "Gamechanger" for solving crime is also "gamechanger" for anyone who wants to track an ex, a protester, a journalist, or a political rival — Flock's own audit logs have shown that kind of misuse happens.

If your town's police department is singing Flock's praises on the news, there's a decent chance the cameras are already up near you. Check our camera map to see what's been documented nearby, and visit take-action for ways to push back at your next city council meeting.