Watching the Watchers: Police Searches

Our Take

Credit to WDRB News for doing the unglamorous work of actually counting cases instead of taking Flock's word for it. Seventy-plus documented instances of alleged misuse isn't a rounding error — it's a pattern. And it's almost certainly an undercount, since misuse only surfaces when someone gets caught, sues, or a journalist files enough records requests to force the issue.

This is the exact scenario critics have been pointing to since these camera networks started blanketing towns with little public debate: give law enforcement a searchable, retroactive log of everyone's movements, and some officers will use it to stalk exes, run plates for personal reasons, or just poke around without a case number attached. Flock's pitch has always been 'trust the audit trail.' An audit trail that only gets checked after the fact isn't oversight, it's a paper trail for lawsuits.

If your department runs these cameras, ask who's actually auditing the search logs and how often — not just whether a policy exists on paper. Check our map to see what's already watching your neighborhood, and hit take action for ways to push your city council on real transparency.