What is Mayor Johnston doing with all this Flock data?
The short version: Left In The Attic asks the question every city with Flock cameras should be asking: who actually controls the data, and why aren't mayors being transparent about it?
Our Take
Left In The Attic's latest video zeroes in on a question we ask constantly here: once a city installs Flock Safety cameras, who's actually accountable for how that data gets used? Mayors and police chiefs love to tout ALPRs as a crime-fighting tool at ribbon-cutting press conferences, but the follow-up questions — retention policies, audit logs, data-sharing agreements with other agencies — tend to get a lot quieter answers, if any at all.
That gap between public rollout and public oversight is exactly where mass surveillance thrives. A network of plate readers scattered across a city isn't just tracking suspects; it's building a searchable record of everyone's movements, and the only real check on abuse is whoever happens to be mayor that week. Videos like this one matter because local reporting and independent creators are often the only ones pushing elected officials to actually explain themselves, rather than hiding behind vague 'public safety' talking points.
If you want to see whether cameras like these are already watching your own neighborhood, check our camera map, and if you're ready to push back on unchecked ALPR deployment in your city, our take-action page has concrete steps to get started. Credit to Left In The Attic for keeping the pressure on local leadership.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of Left In The Attic, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.