Why Were Flock Cameras Installed Without Public Discussion?

Our Take

If true, this is a textbook case of how surveillance infrastructure gets normalized in America: not through open debate, but through a purchase order engineered to dodge one. John Pickhaver, running for El Segundo City Council, lays out a claim that should alarm anyone who thinks local government is supposed to work in the open — that a $49,999.98 price tag kept Flock's ALPR network just under the dollar amount that would have forced a public council vote. Two cents. That's the margin by which residents allegedly lost their seat at the table.

Whether it's a deliberate workaround or a convenient coincidence, the effect is the same: a permanent grid of cameras logging every car that passes, installed with zero public hearing, zero council debate, and zero chance for residents to weigh in before the contract was signed. This is exactly the pattern we track at DeFlock — vendors and city staff moving fast on procurement so the surveillance is already live by the time anyone asks questions. Once the hardware's bolted to the pole, the political fight is about ripping it out, not stopping it from going up.

Credit to Pickhaver for pulling this into public view during an election cycle, when city staff actually have to answer for it. If you want to see whether your own city's ALPRs are logging your plates right now, check the map, and if you're ready to push back on how these contracts get approved, our take-action page has a place to start.