These cops done flocked up! #policemisconduct #flocksafety #policeaccountability

Our Take

Credit to Shields of Shame for digging into this one: five former Albany Police Department officers reportedly arrested after an audit of Flock license plate reader data turned up misconduct. We don't have the court documents in front of us, so we're not going to speculate on specifics, but the headline alone tells you everything you need to know about why these systems demand scrutiny.

This is the exact failure mode critics have warned about since Flock cameras started going up on telephone poles nationwide: a tool sold as "officer safety" or "solving crime" quietly becomes a database that individual cops can query for reasons that have nothing to do with public safety. Audits only catch what gets logged and reviewed — and that depends entirely on departments actually doing the oversight, which plenty don't. When the audit trail is the only thing standing between a plate reader network and personal abuse, you have to ask how many queries never get flagged.

If there's a Flock camera on your street, you should know about it, and you should know your department's policy on who can search that data and why. Check our camera map to see what's watching your neighborhood, and head to take action for ways to push your local government toward real transparency and accountability.