Fountain Valley News. FV City Council meeting 8/18/26, Chief Heredia on Flock use in FVPD.
The short version: When residents push back on Flock cameras, police chiefs show up with reassurances — but Fountain Valley's public pressure is exactly how accountability starts.
Our Take
Credit to Katy Wright Gallery for capturing this one: enough Fountain Valley residents raised concerns about Flock Safety camera use — and misuse — that Chief Craig Heredia felt compelled to address it head-on during public comments. That alone is worth noting. Departments don't usually volunteer a presentation defending their surveillance tools unless the pressure is real.
We don't have the full transcript, and we're not going to pretend we do. But the pattern is familiar: a handful of vocal residents ask hard questions about who has access to ALPR data, how long it's retained, and whether it's being shared outside the department — and suddenly the chief is on camera trying to get ahead of the narrative. That's a win for transparency, even if the answers given aren't fully satisfying. Public meetings like this are often the only real check citizens have on how these networks get deployed.
If you live in or around Fountain Valley, this is the moment to keep the pressure on — show up, ask about audit logs and data-sharing agreements, and don't let a single presentation close the book. Check our map to see how many Flock cameras are already watching your streets, and hit up our take-action page for tools to push your own city council for real answers.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of Katy Wright Gallery, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.