# Flock's A.I.-enabled street cameras see backlash across the country
# NBC News — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fbmWnJGCtc

DANA GRIFFIN HAS MORE.
IT'S A DEBATE INTENSIFYING
ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
YOUR COMMUNITY IS TELLING
YOU THAT WE DON'T WANT THIS.
I THINK WE SHOULD COMPLETELY
REMOVE THEM.
HERE IN PASADENA, CALIFORNIA,
RESIDENTS AND CITY LEADERS
GRAPPLE WITH WHAT TO DO ABOUT
FLOCK, THE LEADING MANUFACTURER
OF AUTOMATED LICENSE PLATE
READERS. OR A LPS. THE CAMERAS
ARE INSTALLED AT INTERSECTIONS
AND CAPTURE DETAILED VEHICLE
DATA, WHICH AI CAN ANALYZE TO
IDENTIFY PEOPLE AND ALERT
AUTHORITIES WHO SAY IT'S AN
IMPORTANT CRIME FIGHTING TOOL.
BUT CRITICS ARGUE THE CAMERAS
HAVE CREATED A MASS
SURVEILLANCE NETWORK THAT'S
BEEN TAPPED BY FEDERAL
IMMIGRATION AGENCIES LIKE ICE
TO SURVEIL PROTESTERS AND
MONITOR INDIVIDUALS.
BATTLE OVER CONTROVERSIAL
FLOCK CAMERAS IN TROY IS
HEATING UP.
IT'S PLAYING OUT ACROSS THE
COUNTRY FROM TROY, NEW YORK,
WHERE THE MAYOR DECLARED AN
EMERGENCY TO KEEP THE CAMERAS
RUNNING AFTER PUBLIC PUSHBACK.
GET THE FLOCK OUT OF TROY.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
TO DAYTON, OHIO, WHERE
AUTHORITIES TOOK TO COVERING
ITS CAMERAS WITH WHAT LOOKS
LIKE GARBAGE BAGS AFTER THE
CITY VOTED TO SUSPEND FLOCK
ACROSS THE COUNTRY, AT LEAST 57
MUNICIPALITIES HAVE CANCELED OR
LET THEIR CONTRACTS WITH FLOCK
EXPIRE OVER THE PAST YEAR, WITH
15 MORE REJECTING PROPOSED
FLOCK CONTRACTS DUE TO
COMMUNITY PUSHBACK, ACCORDING
TO DATA COMPILED BY NBC NEWS.
THIS IS ABOVE AND BEYOND THE
LICENSE PLATE DETECTION, AND
YOU CAN SEE THAT IT SORT OF
FOLLOWS HIM IN THE SHOT.
AUDIENCE. AND NICK RABB ARE
CO-FOUNDERS OF FLOCK PASADENA,
A GRASSROOTS ORGANIZATION
HOPING TO PRESSURE PASADENA TO
CANCEL ITS EXISTING CONTRACT
WITH FLOCK. WHAT'S THE BIGGEST
CONCERN HERE?
I THINK THE BIGGEST CONCERN
IS THAT IF THESE TECHNOLOGIES
WERE USED AND THE DATA GOT
THROUGH TO ICE AND LED TO A
RAID OR WAS USED BY POLICE FOR
A WRONGFUL CONVICTION, THAT
BASICALLY RUINED SOMEONE'S LIFE.
THERE NEEDS TO BE MORE
COMMUNITY INPUT AND CONSENSUS
AND CONSENT BEFORE DEPLOYING
THIS AND ANY OTHER MASS
SURVEILLANCE TECHNOLOGY.
DE FLOCK ACTIVISTS REQUESTED
PUBLIC RECORDS REVIEWED BY NBC
NEWS, FINDING THAT PASADENA'S
DATABASE WAS REQUESTED BY
VARIOUS LAW ENFORCEMENT
AGENCIES IN THE SUMMER OF 2025.
IN DOZENS OF THOSE REQUESTS,
THE REASON GIVEN INCLUDED FBI
OR ICE. ONE SPECIFIC QUERY ON
JUNE 9TH, 2025, CONFIRMED BY
THE SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT, LISTED
ICE PROTEST AS THE REASON FOR A
SEARCH OF 830 SEPARATE
SURVEILLANCE CAMERA NETWORKS IN
FLOCK SYSTEM, INCLUDING
PASADENA'S FLOCK CAMERAS. THE
SEARCH REQUEST CAME ON THE VERY
SAME DAY AS A PEACEFUL PROTEST
AT AN ICE FACILITY IN SAN
BERNARDINO. FLOCK SAYS IT HAD
PILOT PROJECTS WITH SEVERAL
FEDERAL AGENCIES DURING THIS
TIME PERIOD, INCLUDING WITH
CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION,
BUT SAYS THAT ALL ITS FEDERAL
PILOT PROGRAMS ENDED BY AUGUST
OF LAST YEAR. HOWEVER,
ACCORDING TO PASADENA'S
TRANSPARENCY PORTAL MAINTAINED
BY FLOCK, IT WAS STILL SHARING
ITS DATA WITH A REGIONAL
INTELLIGENCE CENTER THAT
FACILITATES INFORMATION SHARING
BETWEEN LOCAL, STATE AND
FEDERAL AGENCIES. UNTIL LAST
MONTH, DISCONTINUING ACCESS
AFTER NBC NEWS REACHED OUT, AN
EMAIL TO NBC NEWS, THE CITY OF
PASADENA SAYS IT'S TAKING A
CAUTIOUS APPROACH AND IS
WORKING WITH THE CITY COUNCIL
TO IDENTIFY NEXT STEPS FOR ITS
FLOCK PROGRAM. DO YOU FEEL LIKE
FLOCK HAS DONE ENOUGH TO
SAFEGUARD THEIR SYSTEM SO THAT
THIS IS NOT ACCESSED BY THOSE
FEDERAL AGENCIES?
I WOULD SAY NO WAY. I'M
TRYING TO, YOU KNOW, MAKE IT
APPEAR AS IF THIS DATA IS, FOR
EXAMPLE, IN CALIFORNIA STAYING
WITHIN CALIFORNIA. BUT THERE'S
SO MANY OTHER WAYS THAT DATA
CAN GET OUTSIDE.
REPORTER. IN A STATEMENT,
THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND
SECURITY SAYS IN PART, THAT IT
DOES NOT MAINTAIN A CONTRACT
WITH FLOCK SAFETY AND THAT IT'S,
QUOTE, USING ALL LAWFUL TOOLS
TO REMOVE DANGEROUS CRIMINAL,
ILLEGAL ALIENS FROM THE U.S.
I KNOW THERE'S CONCERNS
ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT THIS DATA
IS BEING SHARED WITH ICE. FLOCK
DOES NOT HAVE A RELATIONSHIP
WITH ICE.
FLOCK INSISTS IT'S
STRENGTHENED GUARDRAILS TO
SECURE THE DATA THAT'S BEING
COLLECTED, AND SAYS WHERE IT'S
SHARED IS REALLY UP TO THE
LOCAL AUTHORITIES.
CITIES ACTUALLY CONTROL THE
DATA COMPLETELY AND HAVE
COMPLETE AUTHORITY OVER HOW
IT'S BEING USED.
SO IS THIS WHERE YOU WATCH
ALL THE MAGIC UNFOLD?
IT'S COMPLETELY CHANGED THE
GAME.
LIKE IN ALAMEDA COUNTY,
WHERE THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE SAYS
THE TECHNOLOGY HAS BEEN
INVALUABLE. WE GOT A BEHIND THE
SCENES LOOK AT HOW FLOCK
TECHNOLOGY IS BEING USED.
YOU HEAR.
AN ALERT TONE. WHAT DOES
THAT TELL YOU?
SO THE ALERT TONE IS RELATED
TO THE LICENSE PLATE READERS,
AND IT LETS US KNOW THAT
THERE'S BEEN AN ACTIVATION.
THERE'S ONE RIGHT NOW ON A
VEHICLE TRAVELING PAST ONE OF
OUR CAMERAS THAT ARE POSITIONED
IN A PUBLIC PLACE.
WHAT COULD THAT MEAN EXACTLY?
IT COULD MEAN A NUMBER OF
THINGS. THAT CAMERA NETWORK IS
HOOKED UP TO THE DEPARTMENT OF
JUSTICE. SO THE STOLEN VEHICLE
SYSTEM, IT COULD BE AN ARMED
ROBBERY, CAR CARJACKING, A
MURDER VEHICLE.
I MEAN, THIS THING IS GOING
OFF.
WE GET A LOT OF ALERTS IN
THIS COUNTY.
WHILE IT MAY RECEIVE
INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL LAW
ENFORCEMENT, ALAMEDA COUNTY
INSISTS THE DATA ISN'T FLOWING
THE OTHER WAY.
WE HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO
EXTERNAL SHARING WITH ANY
FEDERAL AGENCIES OR IMMIGRATION.
THERE IS NO WAY THEY COULD
ACCESS OUR DATA WITHOUT OUR
KNOWLEDGE.
THE THREE REMAINING ALAMEDA
COUNTY SUPERVISORS VOTED YES.
IN APRIL. ALAMEDA COUNTY
LEADERS VOTED NARROWLY TO
EXTEND ITS CONTRACT FOR SEVERAL
MORE MONTHS DESPITE CONCERNS
FROM RESIDENTS.
THIS TECHNOLOGY IS USED
SPECIFICALLY RELATED TO CALLS
FOR SERVICE, 911, CALLS FOR
HELP AND TO STOP CRIMINALS. IF
WE REMOVE THIS TECHNOLOGY, IT'S
GOING TO BE A BIG DETRIMENT TO
TO PUBLIC SAFETY.
BACK IN PASADENA.
THERE IS DEFINITE BENEFIT TO
HAVING THIS TECHNOLOGY.
THE DEBATE OVER SAFETY AND
PRIVACY CONTINUES AS CITIES
CONFRONT A NEW DIGITAL AGE OF