A growing movement of individuals, inspired by a man in Florida, are vandalizing Flock surveillance cameras, which are used by over 5,000 law enforcement agencies to capture billions of license plate and car details every month. This technology allows police to track individuals' movements over time, raising concerns about abuse and misuse. Critics, including the ACLU, argue that the expansion of automated license plate readers increases the risk of abuse, citing instances where police have misused the data for stalking or immigration enforcement purposes. A preliminary study suggests that Flock cameras may also deter car theft, but opponents remain concerned about their impact on civil liberties.
Written by the local model on 2026-08-21,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Amid intense backlash, people are vandalizing Flock surveillance cameras
A few times a week, Brady O'Rourke walks to the busiest street near his house in Crystal, Minn., carrying a large metal pole with a bright yellow sign taped to the end.
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O'Rourke → vandalize → end
It's a roof rake, normally used to scrape snow off a house, but O'Rourke has different plans for this one.
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O'Rourke → use → one
At the intersection, he stops at a Flock camera, an automated license plate reader that police use to track vehicles.
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police → stop → vehicles
Normally, this camera records everyone who drives down this street.
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who → record → street
But not right now: O'Rourke lifts his rake into the air and blocks the camera with his sign.
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O'Rourke → lift → sign
He waves at passing cars.
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He → wave → cars
Some drivers smile and wave back.
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drivers → smile → ?
A few people honk their horns.
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people → honk → horns
"I don't want to pay to be surveilled," O'Rourke says.
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O'Rourke → want → ?
"My tax dollars are funding cameras at the end of my block.
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dollars → fund → block
I don't want to live like that.
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I → want → that
I don't think anybody should have to live like that."
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anybody → think → that
O'Rourke, inspired by a man in Florida who used a pool skimmer to do the same thing, is part of a growing movement against automated license plate readers like Flock.
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who → inspire → Flock
What Flock cameras do
This week, Flock Safety, the Atlanta-based maker of the cameras, held its annual conference amid intense backlash.
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Safety → base → backlash
According to the company, more than 5,000 law enforcement agencies use their technology.
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agencies → accord → technology
More broadly, there are more than 130,000 AI-powered automated license plate readers on American streets, according to DeFlock, an advocacy group that tracks the cameras.
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that → be → cameras
Every month, those cameras capture billions of license plates and other details about cars, including makes, models, colors and any alterations.
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cameras → capture → makes
That allows police to see where drivers have been over time.
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drivers → allow → time
"They monitor, quite simply, when we go to and from work, where we go to the doctor, where we drop our kid off at daycare.
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we → monitor → daycare
What we've enabled in practical reality is law enforcement to go back and look at where any of us was at any given point in time," says Clare Garvie, deputy director of technology law and policy at New York University's Policing Project.
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Garvie → enable → Project
Police leaders say Flock cameras help them locate stolen vehicles and missing people, and a recent preliminary study suggests that Flock Cameras can deter car theft.
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Cameras → say → theft
"There's no question that license plate readers can be very helpful tools for law enforcement," says Jeff Potts, executive director of the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association.
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Potts → be → Association
But the expansion of the technology – combined with advancements in AI and the centralization of data in cloud networks — has increased the risk of abuse, says Jay Stanley, senior policy analyst with the Speech, Privacy and Technology Project at the ACLU.
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Stanley → combine → ACLU
And the technology has been misused: Some police officers, for instance, have used it to stalk ex-partners, or accessed the data for immigration enforcement purposes without a local government's consent.
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officers → misuse → consent
A sheriff's office in Texas used it to track a woman who may have had an abortion.
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who → use → abortion
"The potential for police fishing expeditions is unlimited," says Stanley.
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Stanley → say → expeditions
"What a lot of these AI, big data techniques do is they try to boil the ocean, to reduce huge amounts of data down to various people who they think could be involved.
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they → try → people
The problem with that, of course, is it sweeps up potentially enormous numbers of innocent people.
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it → sweep → people
"
And sometimes, the data is wrong: A 2024 analysis by a police department in California found Flock misread license plates in 71% of the alerts it sent to police.
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it → find → police
The indiscriminate nature of the data collection, Garvie says, also raises concerns that the cameras violate the Fourth Amendment, which protects people from being searched unreasonably.
"We did not set up a system of governance in this country that says, 'Just don't do anything wrong and you won't have anything to worry about.'
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you → say → anything
What we said is, 'No, actually, law enforcement is affirmatively restricted against getting up in our business as we go about our daily lives,'" she says.
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she → say → lives
Garvie says she wants to see more oversight of the technology from lawmakers.
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she → say → lawmakers
Last week, Flock changed some of its features to help prevent abuse, including shortening how long it recommends data be stored and cutting off access to officers who appear to be misusing the tool.
"
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who → change → tool
We don't own this data.
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We don't sell this data.
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We → sell → data
Cities have control over how long it's stored.
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it → have → control
And who it's shared with
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it → share → who
," Garrett Langley, the CEO of Flock, told NPR.
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Langley → tell → NPR
Flock camera vandalism across dozens of states
An increasing number of people are combating the technology in both legal and illegal ways.
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number → increase → ways
According to an NPR review of local news reports, Flock cameras have been vandalized in at least 36 states.
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cameras → accord → states
…and 16 more, not listed.
