Are vandals winning the war on Flock cameras?

Our Take

13News Now frames this as vandals versus cameras, but that framing misses the point. People aren't attacking Flock units because they hate technology — they're reacting to a surveillance system that was installed with little public input, less oversight, and almost no transparency about who gets access to the data or how long it's kept. When residents feel like the only way to push back is with a crowbar or spray paint, that's a failure of process, not a sign that the public is irrational.

We don't endorse property destruction, and we're not going to pretend it's a long-term strategy. Vandalism gets a camera replaced in a week and gives police departments a talking point about 'criminals hating accountability.' The actual leverage is political: public records requests, city council meetings, and local ordinances that require audits, data retention limits, and opt-out zones. That's slower and less satisfying, but it's the kind of pressure that actually sticks.

If you want to know whether Flock or other ALPR cameras are already watching your street, check our camera map, and if you'd rather fight this in city hall than with a hammer, our take-action page has the tools to do it. Credit to 13News Now for putting the conflict on camera — now it's up to communities to decide which kind of pressure actually works.