Flock Safety Cameras Face Growing Wave of Vandalism as Public Pushback Mounts
Flock Safety's license plate reading cameras, now deployed by thousands of police departments and neighborhood associations, are increasingly being ripped out, disabled, or defaced by frustrated residents. Reports describe everything from quietly unplugging units to spray-painting lenses to outright destruction, carried out by uncoordinated individuals rather than any organized campaign.
What makes the trend hard to stop is exactly that lack of coordination. There's no single group to target with legal action, no manifesto to trace, just scattered acts of resistance popping up in different cities. Some people have been caught and charged, but that hasn't slowed the broader pattern.
The backlash reflects mounting unease over automated surveillance infrastructure that tracks vehicle movements at scale, often with limited public oversight or consent.