Milford police chief responds to image in Flock Safety promotional video
The short version: A Milford, CT police chief is reportedly responding after his likeness turned up in a Flock Safety ad, raising fresh questions about how cozy law enforcement and this surveillance vendor have become.
Our Take
WFSB 3 out of Connecticut is digging into something that should raise eyebrows well beyond Milford: a sitting police chief's image showing up in Flock Safety's own promotional material. We don't know yet whether Chief Mello consented, was blindsided, or something in between — but the fact that this is even a story says a lot about how thin the line has become between a surveillance vendor's marketing department and the police departments it sells to.
This isn't just a branding quibble. Flock has built a business model on local agencies vouching for its ALPR network, often with minimal public debate before contracts get signed. When a company starts using police officials as de facto spokespeople — intentionally or not — it blurs who's actually accountable to the public: the elected officials and chiefs who are supposed to answer to residents, or the private company selling them camera infrastructure. Credit to WFSB 3 for pressing on this instead of letting it slide as a non-story.
If you're in Connecticut or anywhere else, it's worth checking whether your town has quietly plugged into this network. Pull up our camera map to see what's nearby, and if you want to push back on unchecked ALPR deployment in your community, our take-action page has concrete steps to start that fight locally.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of WFSB 3, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.