Vision for Thriving Cities Fund
The short version: Flock's own promo for its 'Thriving Cities Fund' dresses up surveillance expansion as small-business philanthropy, with no mention of ALPR data sharing or oversight.
Our Take
This one comes straight from Flock Safety's own channel, so take the uplifting small-town, small-business framing for what it is: corporate messaging. The 'Thriving Cities Fund,' built with a partner called Homegrown, pitches Flock as a civic benefactor fueling economic growth and safety — but nowhere in the pitch is there a word about the thousands of license plate reader cameras that company sells to the same cities, or who gets to see the data those cameras collect.
This is how surveillance companies build political cover. Pair the camera network with goodwill gestures toward local business and "community investment," and city councils have an easier time approving new ALPR contracts without serious debate about retention policies, audit logs, or federal access to local plate data. Safety and economic growth are popular goals; they're also useful cover stories when the product being sold is a nationwide vehicle-tracking network.
If your city council is being pitched Flock gear alongside talk of "thriving communities," push back and ask the real questions: who audits the searches, how long is data kept, and does ICE or other outside agencies get access. Check whether Flock cameras are already in your area on our map, and see how to organize against unchecked expansion on our take-action page.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of Flock, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.