Rising backlash as Americans vandalize Flock safety cameras

Brian Merchant, writing for Blood in the Machine, reports that people in different parts of the United States are dismantling and destroying Flock surveillance cameras, as public anger grows over claims that license plate readers are being used to support U.S. immigration enforcement and deportations.

Flock is an Atlanta-based surveillance startup valued at $7.5 billion about a year ago and best known for producing license plate reader systems. The company has faced increasing criticism over how federal authorities can gain access to its large national network of license plate readers and the databases connected to them. This backlash comes at a time when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is relying more heavily on data tools during raids and other actions tied to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

Flock’s cameras allow authorities to track where vehicles travel and when by photographing license plates using thousands of cameras placed across the country. Flock says it does not provide data directly to ICE. Still, reporting has indicated that local police agencies have shared their own access to Flock cameras and databases with federal authorities.

As some communities push local governments to cancel contracts with Flock, others have started taking direct action themselves.

Merchant describes several recent incidents of vandalism. In La Mesa, California, Flock cameras were reportedly broken and smashed only weeks after the city council voted to continue using them, even though most meeting attendees supported shutting them down. A local report highlighted strong resistance to the surveillance technology, with residents raising privacy concerns.

Other vandalism cases have been reported across multiple states, including California, Connecticut, Illinois, and Virginia. In Oregon, six license plate-scanning cameras mounted on poles were cut down, and at least one was spray-painted. Merchant reports that a note left at the base of the severed poles read: “Hahaha get wrecked ya surveilling fucks.”

According to DeFlock, a project that maps license plate readers, there are close to 80,000 cameras across the United States. Dozens of cities have rejected adopting Flock’s camera systems so far, and some police departments have also taken steps to prevent federal authorities from using their resources.