Millcreek finds mysterious unauthorized Flock camera on public property

Our Take

Credit to Utah Junction for surfacing this one, because it's the kind of story that should worry anyone who thinks their city council has a handle on surveillance infrastructure within its own borders. Millcreek Councilmember Thom DeSirant is now saying the city has to review every Flock camera in town after discovering one that nobody seems to have authorized. If a sitting councilmember can't say with confidence how many ALPR cameras are bolted to poles in his own city, what exactly is the public oversight process here?

This is the recurring pattern with Flock Safety's rollout across the country: cameras go up fast, contracts get signed with minimal public debate, and then months or years later someone discovers a unit that was never properly approved, disclosed, or accounted for. It's not usually a conspiracy — it's just how little friction there is in deploying this stuff. Vendors make it easy, police departments want the tool, and city councils often find out details after the fact. Multiply an "unauthorized camera" story like this by hundreds of jurisdictions and you start to see how a nationwide plate-tracking network got built without most residents ever voting on it.

If you live in a town with Flock cameras, don't assume your local officials have a full inventory — ask them directly, and check our camera map to see what we've documented in your area. And if your city hasn't had a real public vote on this technology, our take-action page has steps for pushing that conversation into the open before the next "mystery camera" turns up.