Between 2023 and 2024, Flock generated 1,427 stolen-or-felony vehicle alerts for Roseville Police.
The short version: A YouTuber named Manifestation Academy digs into Roseville PD's claim of 1,427 Flock stolen-vehicle alerts, raising questions about what those numbers actually prove.
Our Take
Credit to Manifestation Academy for doing the unglamorous work of actually pulling the numbers instead of just repeating a police press release. Departments love to cite raw alert counts like "1,427 stolen-or-felony vehicle hits" because big numbers sound like proof the technology works. But an alert isn't an arrest, a recovery, or even a confirmed match — it's just a camera telling an officer "maybe check this plate." How many of those 1,427 pings turned into an actual stolen car recovered, versus a false positive, a misread plate, or a car that was reported stolen days earlier and already resolved? That's the gap between a marketing stat and real accountability.
This is exactly the pattern we track at DeFlock: agencies roll out Flock networks promising dramatic crime-fighting results, then when someone actually audits the data, the headline number shrinks fast once you separate alerts from outcomes. Roseville isn't unique — it's part of a nationwide experiment where your daily movements get logged by a private company's cameras so a police department can report a flattering statistic to the city council.
If you want to know whether Flock is watching your commute, check our camera map, and if you'd rather not just read about it, our take-action page has concrete steps for pushing back in your own town.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of Manifestation Academy, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.