It’s not just one bad detective: The Flock problem #privacy #scandal #law

Our Take

Mading Thok lays out a story that should embarrass every department leaning on ALPR data as a routine policing tool: the detective tapped to investigate a cop for stalking his ex through Flock cameras turned out to be running his own unauthorized searches and planting a GPS tracker. Twenty-two years on the Milwaukee force, and the watchdog was the wolf. This is exactly the pattern we keep flagging — audit logs and 'authorized use only' policies mean nothing if the culture around these tools treats access as a perk rather than a power that demands accountability.

The video also makes a point we think is underappreciated: some cities dropping Flock aren't ditching automated surveillance, they're just switching to Axon-made plate readers. That's the trap. The brand on the pole is irrelevant if the underlying capability — logging every plate, every time, everywhere a car goes, then letting cops query it with little oversight — stays the same. Swapping vendors without changing policy is a rebrand, not a reform.

Cases like Chapman's are why blanket trust in law enforcement self-policing doesn't hold up. If your city hasn't published clear rules on who can query ALPR data, why, and how it's audited, assume the answer is 'basically nobody's checking.' Check our camera map to see what's watching your neighborhood, and hit take action if you want to push your council for real oversight instead of a vendor swap.