# I Exposed Flock: America's Mass-Surveillance Dystopia
# Tyler Oliveira — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ju8rVbt05Z4

Okay, he's going in.
That's a Flock camera.
process has begun.
An AI-powered camera that captures and
logs every car that drives past it. And
there's over 100,000 of them all over
America.
Okay, it's blinking red.
It's going to be flocked.
Do you think the deflockers will be
flocked?
100%.
So, flock around and find out.
Yep.
While these cameras are innocently sold
as a tool to help find stolen vehicles,
in reality, it's a rapidly growing
network feeding one database searchable
by virtually any police department
paying for access for any reason they
could keyboard jam into a text box.
Thoughts on this Flock camera being
outside your home?
Who put it up?
And not everyone is happy to see these
cameras plastered all over America.
Law enforcement agencies across the
country use AI-powered cameras to scan
billions of vehicles each month, often
without drivers even knowing they're
being recorded. [music]
police officer is accused of using Flock
safety cameras to search for a lover's
location.
These drone videos shows officers
approach him in the driveway and
handcuff him in seconds, but they had
the wrong man.
A 6-year-old was forced out of her car,
down onto the pavement, and held at
gunpoint, all because an AI-powered
camera misread a license plate.
Sergeant Jamie Milliam came to my door
accusing me of a $25 package theft.
You know, we have cameras in that town,
and you can't get a breath of fresh air
in or out of that place without us
knowing, correct?
Okay.
This should scare every single person.
The American people are not someone who
can be controlled.
It's called Flock for a reason, because
they treat us like animals.
But do these cameras prevent crime,
solve crime, or just record it? Can
police departments be trusted with
access to a growing network of over
100,000-plus
cameras all over America? How often do
these cameras make mistakes that put
innocent people's lives at risk? Who's
responsible when they do? And what
exactly are we sacrificing our privacy
for?
While I investigate, I hired a private
investigator to ensure [music] the Flock
CEO, Garrett Langley, wasn't committing
any crime or cheating on his wife.
Surely, he won't mind sacrificing some
privacy in the interest of public safety
if he has nothing to hide.
I want eyes on him. Every move, every
plate number, every address, every
breath in 4K.
Let's see how you like being spied
[music] on, Garrett.
While the private investigator I hired
is surveilling the CEO of Flock, let's
go to the Flock capital of America,
Houston, Texas, and see how they feel
about these cameras all over their city.
Have you seen uh like these cameras
everywhere tracking you?
I didn't even notice that.
Oh, I didn't even notice that.
Oh, you didn't even notice that?
We're just asking folks if they want
more cameras or less cameras out here in
Houston.
Um less.
Less? Way less?
Less. Way less?
Less.
Less?
Yeah.
I'd be more.
More?
More cameras.
More.
Probably more.
Yeah? And why?
Cuz I feel like if we have a record of
everything,
then um there would be less, you know,
allegations going on and more proof.
More cameras in the area?
More cameras in the
Yeah, I do.
Would you prefer there are more cameras
in the area?
Yeah.
Less cameras. They don't They don't help
for anything, bro. That red light, I'll
be passing it all the time, so I don't
want no cameras here.
You don't want any cameras?
Cameras.
I mean more cameras.
More cameras like this?
I would probably say less, my personal
opinion.
I would say less. I mean, I see a lot of
them up already, man.
Like we don't need any more.
I've seen them on the news. I'm like, I
don't really care.
I get I don't think the amount matters.
It's just who's what they're using it
for, who's using it.
Do they make you feel safer or unsafe?
Unsafe.
It's debatable.
More safe.
Safe.
I could be pan if they're actually going
to do something, you know, with all the
stuff that goes on downtown.
Sure. So, you're saying nighttime is
more safe?
More safer.
I feel like I'm being stalked, bro.
So, you're being stalked?
Yeah.
Well, I think otherwise, yes. Finding
somebody, yes. Abductions, yes.
Okay.
But, like for traffic stops and tickets,
then no.
Depending on where they're connected
towards, like like
What if they're connected to some cop
beating his meat looking at a photo of
you?
No.
You goes down to these cameras stop [ __ ]
going down?
Not at all. You hardly even see police
out here stopping stuff.
Less safe.
Yeah, you feel you're being stalked?
Yeah, privacy is being invaded. That's
I think it would be less safe cuz it's
kind of invasion.
An invasion of your privacy?
Yeah. I mean, it's too much already.
Um yeah, man. It don't matter, man. I
see a lot of already anyway, so we do
not like being watched all the time, no.
I think there are two sides to it, you
know, like obviously there are cases
where it can help, and I think that
those are good, but of course you have
willingly letting the government kind of
keep track of us. So, I don't like the
idea of just willingly giving in and
letting the government You know what I
mean? It's like It's like we're not even
fighting at this point. They just
whether they spy on us or not, at least
before we didn't know, but now it's kind
of like it's in our face.
Literally in your face.
Exactly, exactly. So, I I I've kind of
have mixed opinions about it.
Yeah, I mean, if they're going to use it
the right way, yeah, sure, go ahead.
And do you feel like your privacy is
being invaded at all?
No.
Okay.
Privacy is a a human right, and I don't
think that it should matter whether I
have something to hide or not. I don't
have anything to hide, but um when I
close the curtains in my house, I don't
have anything to hide. I just don't want
You know, I want privacy, which is a
human right.
Same.
Honestly, no. I think if you're in
public, man, and you know, anywhere,
every everyone's a streamer now, you
know? Everyone walks around with
cameras. Yeah. Yeah, it's it's happening
everywhere, so if you're in public
So, I mean, to stop crime, seriously,
crime is going to happen in no matter
what.
I mean, I don't give a what kind of
security systems you have, it's still
going to happen.
I talked to the locals in Houston. I was
surprised at how How people simply
didn't care if there were cameras
watching them?
If they're using them properly and
actually were stopping crimes and I
could see some metrics where man crimes
are being stopped, then maybe I could
maybe say yes.
Given that Flock cameras were all over
the city, the answer is surely supported
by data and hard-hitting facts, right?
We got a camera right here. We got a
Flock camera right here. We have camera
right there, camera right there,
another one. We are in the surveillance
state whether we like it or not.
Rest assured when you take your little
ones to the park, we know you're here.
Houston is living in a surveillance
state. There are cameras literally
everywhere. Are we any better than
China?
We got two Flock cameras literally
pointed in the same direction. Does it
make you feel safer?
This is
Okay, would you want more of your tax
dollars going towards these cameras?
This is
In order to truly answer the question
and see whether people are actually
paying for safety or paying to feel
safe. up with the most notorious
criminal defense lawyer in Houston to
see how these cameras are being used in
court. You work with some of the most
violent criminals in Houston.
Allegedly.
Allegedly. Since the introduction of
Flock cameras, have you seen a
noticeable reduction in violent crime?
No.
I have not.
Okay.
I've seen actually um
more people come into my office and it's
great for business. Been seeing that uh
there's an allegation of like a murder
that would happen and you know they
would say that the the getaway driver uh
or the defendant was in that vehicle and
that vehicle was going up 45 highway.
From 45 highway it it goes out to I-10,
pretty much just following it and just
putting the pieces together say that
this is the person that committed that
murder. It's just another tool that they
use uh to try to show that there's a
higher chance that my client is the one
who committed that crime. I've seen them
use it a lot. It's another tool that
they have along with DNA. It's another
tool they have along with surveillance
videos from private entities like
people's houses.
Is it helping prosecute your clients
more often or less often?
I mean, it can provide damaging evidence
in some cases. They definitely haven't
made it harder. Um if anything, they
have helped our cases. Personally, I
don't like the invasion of privacy and I
think they should go away.
It makes it easier when there's footage
that I can use and that's in any aspect
of the law, right? It makes that footage
also can make it harder when people are
trying to hide footage, right? But it
depends on who you're representing. So.
Okay.
And if it helps our case, we can use it.
It doesn't help our case, then nobody
else will really know that we obtained
it in the first place.
Ultimately, I think if the focus is the
safety of an individual and it doesn't
spiral, then that's great. The problem
is we're humans. Things spiral.
But the problem is there is no
independent peer-reviewed study showing
that Flock reduces crime. The strongest
research saying Flock solves crime is a
white paper written by Flock using
Flock's own data. And in their own
paper, Flock admits that the core
question of whether these crimes
otherwise would have remained unsolved
in the first place was never tested. And
that question, in their own words, is
unlikely to be solved at scale via
quantitative analysis. Translation, the
proof doesn't exist. And by their own
account, it may never. The strongest
independent evidence for ALPR technology
closing cases is a 2019 study of a
different company's cameras, which found
clearance gains for auto theft and
robbery that were not statistically
significant once researchers controlled
for other factors. The authors
themselves said further assessment was
needed. That's it. That's the evidence
selling an estimated 100,000 plus
cameras. In fact, in the same years
Flock cameras went up across Houston,
HPD was found to have suspended more
than 264,000
case reports under a code meaning they
lacked the personnel to investigate
them. Meaning the city was pouring money
into technology to detect crime while
lacking the manpower to investigate it.
Yep, Houston spent $6.39 million
over four years on these cameras with
$3.94 million of it coming out of the
general fund. The same fund that pays
the investigators to solve the crimes
that were left suspended.
Do you think there will be a world in
which technology like Flock in the
future puts you out of business
entirely? That there is so much evidence
collected with sensory technology, which
the case is perfectly built in 4K, the
jury just has to watch it and they can
see the whole story unfold.
No, it's not. No, it's not because
everything is still depending on
arguments. There are other defense
attorneys, I'm not going to name them,
but some of them could you just look at
the overwhelming evidence and say, "You
know what, dude? You might as well take
a plea cuz we're going [music] to lose."
Which I don't do that. I think
differently than other defense attorneys
out there and that's what they like
about me. So, I'm looking for more
trials to go to that can include murder,
raping, theft, arson, child
What happens when cameras like Flock's
make mistakes putting innocent lives at
risk and accusing innocent people of
crimes they didn't commit? Let me
introduce you to Robert. Robert, what
happened on the day of May 3rd?
On the day of May 3rd, I was on an
extended work trip, 10 days to be
specific, up in Jacksonville. And I was
going over some of the work of the
previous [music] properties that we had
finished, making sure that they were
done correctly. And I did find some
errors and so I hop out of my vehicle
and I noticed there's a a police car
behind me. Maybe he thought I was
trespassing, I don't know. So,
I approached thinking maybe I'll
clarify, make sure everything's okay.
And I I go to the back of my vehicle, I
was going to get my equipment. As well
as as I walked up. I I got to the back
of a our work truck, put a single hand
on the vehicle when
Deputy Anthony stepped out of his
vehicle, gun drawn. He He had his Glock
drawn.
He had
good trigger discipline. It was pointed
at the ground. It wasn't pointed
directly at me, and and that put me at
ease a little bit, and I just wasn't
sure what was going on.
So, I went into full compliance mode.
Whatever he asked is what I gave. I I'm
not going to sit there and argue with a
deputy, let alone one with a gun drawn.
Takes me to the back of his patrol car,
puts me places me in the back seat. I
notice several other deputies have now
shown up.
Two female officers and two additional
male officers
arrive at the scene, and
I don't really know what's going on. No
one has spoken to me at this point, and
I'm just waiting patiently for them to
clear the vehicle and confirm that I am
alone. And after I'd say 10-minute
period, maybe 15 max, Deputy Anthony
steps back into the car with me and asks
me
or first he reads me my Miranda rights,
and
and says,
"Do you want to waive your right to
remain silent?" I say, "Yes." And I ask
if I'm currently under arrest. And he
says, "No, you're currently detained." I
ask, "What what is going on?" And he
says that the car has been reported
stolen. And I said, "Well, I'm sure
that's just a clerical error. I'm sure
you guys will get this figured out." He
says, "Okay." He gets out.
He has some discussion with the
surrounding deputies.
He gets back in the car and asks me more
questions about the car. And
he says, "Something's just not making
sense." And he's on his computer, and
he's working through his computer. When
finally he shows me his computer.
[music] He's like, "You know what? Just
take a look. This is what where we're at
and what what is going on." He says
He showed me his computer. What exactly
I'm looking at, I don't know. I'm not
familiar with their
their their systems or what they use or
what programs they use, but he said he
said, "See right here where your name is
green or the your license plate is
green." I don't know which one it was.
A few minutes ago it was red. And to
which I replied like, "Oh, it's updating
in real time. Like
what is this?" And he says, "Well, the
the system flagged you as someone who
has stolen this this vehicle. And now
it's saying that your vehicle has not
been stolen."
And Robert's not the only one victimized
by this technology's margin of error
combined with police rushing to
judgement.
Well, hi there.
Well, how are you doing?
Doing so good it should be illegal. Is
Krisana available?
Um she is. Though she's taking a nap.
I'll go and see if she can come out.
Yeah, that's fine.
Hi there. How are you?
Good. How are you?
I'm good. Krisana, my name is Sergeant
Jamie Milliman with the Columbine Valley
Police Department.
Okay.
know Do you know why I'm here?
No.
Okay.
[laughter]
Uh you drive through the town of Bowmar
quite often?
Nope.
You don't?
Oh, no. I work from home.
[laughter]
Okay. You know we have cameras in that
town and you can't [music] get a breath
of fresh air in or out of that place
without us knowing, correct?
Okay.
Okay. You say you don't drive there, but
you've been driven through about 20
times the last this month?
Probably my husband or I.
Okay. But but this is you, right?
Uh both of us, yes. We drive the same
vehicle.
Okay. So, you have no you're you're
going to stand by you don't know why I'm
here.
I do know.
Okay. [laughter] Okay. There was a theft
of a package from 5245 Ridge Trail
[music] on Tuesday.
Um like I said, we have cameras
everywhere in that town. You can't get a
breath of fresh air in or out without us
knowing. You know the the quality on the
camera doorbell you have.
Yeah.
I've got that on my phone right now of
you taking that [music] package.
My name is Chrisanna Elser and on
September 27th, 2025,
Sergeant Jamie Milliam came to my door
accusing me of a $25 package theft.
[laughter]
$25 package?
$25. So, I was trying to figure out what
was he talking about.
And did he have evidence of the theft?
Well, he claimed he's done an extensive
investigation on it and he basically
just showed me a picture of the truck
going through the neighborhood.
And that was your truck?
And that was my truck and that was a
time I went through the neighborhood on
Monday. He kept saying Tuesday, which
added further confusion because my
husband, again, our vehicle has cameras
and my husband works at a security
location. And so, he said, "I can prove
that she didn't have the truck on
Tuesday, so you're way off."
I have you on camera.
Okay.
You taking a package and walking away.
Is there any reason why you would have
done that?
Nope.
Do you know anyone that lives on Ridge
Trail?
[music]
No.
Okay. Well, then I'll make this easy
since you're just going to deny it. I'm
going to issue you a summons that you'll
be
showing up in court in Jefferson County.
[music]
Well, can I see this video?
If you go to court, you can. If you're
going to deny it, I'm not going to
extend you any courtesy. If you're going
to lie to me, I have you roughly roughly
20 times this month alone. And here's
when you left
at 12:09. That's when you left town.
Wait a minute.
Take a package. Well, there's no
shushing. I don't need to be
I need to know where this is.
We have cameras on our truck, so we can
show you exactly where we were.
I already know where you were. I have it
on camera. I have you on camera walking
up, ringing the doorbell, taking the
package and literally running away. You
on camera doing this. It is her. It is
100%. It is locked in. There is zero
doubt. I I know it's unbelievable to
you. I get that. I get that this is a
shock to you.
Well, he would not show me the picture
of me accusing me taking the package on
there and so that would have really
cleared I think a few things up. So,
that was a little concerning. And what
was very much entertaining is that if he
had done his proper due diligence at his
own office, he probably would have saw
that my truck was parked in front of the
other Flock camera the entire time. Uh
but we're assuming he had to see in the
vehicle at some capacity to see that I
looked like that individual cuz he was
providing nothing else to say, "Oh, here
I see you getting out of the truck and
here I see this person stealing." He
didn't have any of that. He strictly had
this is your your vehicle and then this
looks like you. Well, how did you put
that together?
So, this police officer is using Flock
cameras to argue you committed a crime
and you have all of your own cameras to
prove that you didn't commit the crime.
Mhm.
If you watch the Ring camera footage of
the woman who actually stole the
package, it is 1,000% not you. You can
easily see that.
Yes.
Yet he still thinks it is 100% you.
I'm sure he does. I mean, even I spent 2
weeks reaching out to the mayor, the
town council, the supervisor, the chief
of police trying to get somebody to
return my phone call and we even went in
person down there and the town attorney
came by and he even want didn't want to
hear from us either. And lo and behold,
the very next day he posted on the
Neighbors app saying, "Can anybody give
him more evidence of my truck in the
area?" Where
He The officer posted it on the
Neighbors app.
Yep, the Columbine Valley Police
Department.
legal?
I don't know. I guess he was collecting
more evidence where I could have made
his job way easier if he would have just
contacted me back. I said to him, I
said, "Would We have evidence to provide
to you." He said, "Uh no, I'll see you
in court. You can see you the evidence I
have in when you go to court in 2
months."
Well, you you have to appear for this.
You're
way we can see this video or anything
now.
If you go to court, you may.
Why can't we see it now?
Because you have not been honest with
me, so I'm not going to extend you any
courtesy of showing you a video when I
don't need to.
show you videos
No, you cannot. I can I can show you
Okay, show me then.
No, you're not being honest with me. If
You guys have a good afternoon.
Around noon.
No, it was exactly noon when it was
stolen.
Nothing gets in or out of the town
without us knowing.
It sounds like he's flexing that they've
constructed a panopticon. They can see
you at all times and they know your
every action.
Mhm.
How do you feel about that?
That's a little scary.
And he comes up and and we have a a
short discussion. I'm like, "What What
What um How did this happen?" And he
said, "It was something with our system
with have an issue with it." It We shook
hands. The deputies didn't actually
leave and I had to continue work at
their location within a few feet of
them, in fact, and to which I overheard
them having discussion about the issues
they are having with this new system and
why this may have happened. And what
this the surrounding deputy that he was
asking this to said, "Well, one
possibility is uh on the license plate
it used an O instead of the zero and
flagged it or his name is similar to the
the person we actually are looking for."
I realized in that moment, "Oh, this
isn't like a person had made a mistake.
Their [music] computer system had
flagged me."
Now, I just want this solved. And then I
spent the next 2 weeks every single day
I documented every time I called
somebody to get somewhere to stop
wasting everybody's time on this.
And why are you so concerned at this
point?
Because it is. It's your reputation.
[music] I mean, I'm very fortunate.
We've lived in our neighborhood for a
while. I mean, we looked at our cameras.
We saw quite a few of our neighbors go
by. Uh they of [music] course seeing a
police car in your neighborhood that
doesn't normally see a police car, they
probably were, "What's going on there?
Is it a domestic dispute or
Sure.
else going on?" And thank gosh we'd
lived here for a while, so we didn't
have that that stigma, but uh cuz that
that $25 package over the rest of my
career, which I'm hoping would be a long
one. Thank the heavens above. I have a
great employer. My boss saw some I I
reached right out to her. I said, "Hey,
here's the situation." She said, "Yeah,
I have to let my other people know, HR,
all them." And she's like, "I I can't
say what's going to happen." But she I
sent her all the evidence so that they
could see it and be like, "Hey, it's
very clearly not her. This isn't just
accusatory." And she said, "I don't know
what they're going to do, you know,
administrative leave or anything like
that because we don't know. It's it's an
open criminal case at the moment." And
thank goodness everybody saw and said,
"Are you kidding me? That is not you."
Do you support Flock cameras?
Clearly, I am very in favor of
surveillance, privately owned. I mean, I
think anybody in this nation would sign
a release saying, "Hey, we're looking
for a lost child. Can we have all the
digital evidence from this time to this
time?" Everybody would be like, "Here,
take everything you want and everything
you get. I don't care if you're
surveilling me to find that child." But
the fact that they can just go around
and start doing criminal investigations
and come so accusatory, they kind of
made a bad stain on it.
Now, when Flock isn't being used by
police to accuse innocent people of
committing crimes, it's sold as a tool
to HOAs and police departments to
recover stolen vehicles and help solve
crime. But how is it actually being used
by the federal agencies using them
either indirectly or directly? I met up
with a DEA task force officer to
understand how federal agencies access
Flock by working together with local law
enforcement.
How long have you been aware of Flock
and ALPR cameras?
Uh several years now. Uh I mean, it's
probably been myself over for [music]
DEA's most biggest use for Flock cameras
would be through the use of uh hot
[music] lists um and tracking vehicles
across the country. The DEA knows of a
vehicle that [music] might be used for
narcotics trafficking or cash smuggling.
Just like with any LPR camera, it can be
tracked
whenever it gets alerted and hits a LPR
camera, just like it would be used
[music] by any other law enforcement
agency. It's an example everyone can
understand. An homicide occurred and a
witness [music] grabbed a license plate
of the fleeing vehicle. That license
plate can be put into hot list in flock
and every time that vehicle drives past
the flock camera, a law enforcement
could be alerted.
Throughout your experience, what is an
approximate rate of error you've
observed?
I would say probably around 5% maybe.
It's not a perfect program, but it is up
to the user to do their due diligence.
It could interpret an E as an F. It
could mistaken,
[music]
you know, numbers that look that could
look like a letter or vice versa. Also,
depending on the quality of a picture
that it captured because there's also
different factors in play like weather,
uh lighting conditions.
Is there a number counts of how many
police investigations have used Flock in
any capacity?
I would probably say uh 75 to 280%.
But things get a bit more sinister when
you realize these aren't just license
plate readers. I pulled the Flock search
logs from Wheaton, Illinois, a tiny
55,000 person suburb, and examined over
10,000 searches. The median search
searched across more than 1,100 networks
and nearly 16,500
cameras. That's right. A small town
officer running a routine traffic
infraction wasn't checking a local
camera. Nope, they were querying a
nationwide surveillance grid. And one in
eight of those searches never even used
a license plate at all. They just
described the vehicle's characteristics.
Like when an officer typed "pick up Ram
silver gray." That's not a plate reader.
That's an AI-enabled search engine. And
the only justification an officer needs
to run a search is nothing at all. In
Wheaton's logs, 89 searches ran with the
reason field left blank. Flock is a
massive surveillance network that runs
entirely on the honor system. With great
power comes great responsibility.
know this was happening until I was the
victim of it.
For example,
we had to to vote legalize marijuana
here in Florida, but there was no vote
to legalize the mass surveillance of
people with AI [music] cameras.
How do you answer that?
point. How helpful is Flock?
Well, very helpful. Flock typically
it does lead to positive outcomes for
cases that we wouldn't be able to solve
without Flock itself. Hopefully that's
that's step of news I should be shared.
I would say the biggest example recently
is the shooting Austin had, the mass
shooting, and then they were able
obviously capture the offender because
of Flock. Flock obviously read the plate
and led law enforcement in the right
direction. And you basically reach out
to anyone that has a Flock account and
then you kind of get what you need and
you ask for what you need. It's it's
quite that simple. Yeah, as long as your
home agency continues to purchase Flock
and pay for it, you will have access to
it.
And that's because you're a task force
agent, right?
Yes.
Do you guys ever obtain Flock data
without a warrant? Do you guys need a
warrant to request information from
Flock? How does that work?
Flock LPR cameras are faced towards
public roadways and public highways.
[music]
Fourth Amendment doesn't apply on the
public road, so there is no warrant
needed.
It's because there is no reasonable
expectation of privacy. Let me give you
an example. Tyler walking out of his
house wearing this. He doesn't have a
reasonable expectation of privacy of
keeping [music] this shirt private.
However, if he
has drugs in his pocket and he puts it
in there, there's a reasonable
expectation of privacy inside these
pockets. There's a reasonable
expectation of privacy inside of the
trunk of his car. There's a reasonable
expectation of privacy in certain places
that you would believe it is. And if
there isn't,
there's ways for me to show that there
is a reasonable expectation of privacy.
And if the cops get that evidence to
show that, "Oh, well, this can lead to
the murder." I'll say, "I don't care
about that. All I care about is did you
violate my client's rights? If you
violated my my client's rights, you
could not use this piece of evidence
against him in court."
No warrant is needed for it. Permissions
I'm seeing here are from like private
business cuz of that is their private
property.
So, if someone is Flock on let's say
your Flock account, can that be used as
probable cause?
No.
No. So, when we hear these like stories
of people using let's say a screenshot
of Flock as their probable cause, is
that just sloppy policing? What's your
perspective?
So, that's just circumstantial evidence.
Uh putting a vehicle near the scene of a
crime, you know, in the ideal world
would would help an investigation, but
obviously that's only one part of it.
But the thing is, the Fourth Amendment
exists because British officers could
search any home they wanted without
naming who they suspected or why. So, us
Americans wrote a rule, suspicion first
and then the search. But Flock has built
records everyone, stores it, and lets
police decide later who they're
interested in. The exact power the
Fourth Amendment was written to take
away.
While law enforcement and some lawyers
will tell you there's no expectation of
privacy in public and that under decades
of Fourth Amendment precedent, a camera
on a pole isn't searching you, it's just
watching you.
You never think it's going to happen to
you, you know? What are the odds that
happens to one of approximately 400
million Americans just doing their job.
You never think it's going to happen to
you until it does. And since it did
happen to me, the only
uh perspective I can give is like if
it's happening to me, it's happening to
somebody else. Where there's one,
there's two. Where there's two, there's
more.
Uh I'm just worried that it will
just create this we know exactly where
you are every single moment. Uh,
[music]
there's no ambiguity, which is great in
the sense of crime, but not in the sense
of just life. Like, [music] if you're
not feeling well and you call into work,
is there now going to be a system where
your work can call in and say, "Well, is
she really not feeling well? Did she
leave her house? Let me see the camera
on her house." You know, "Oh, she There
she's getting in the car. She looks well
enough to me." kind of thing. So, now it
becomes this
whole kind of thing. I mean, same thing
with [music] any infidelity or anything.
It'd be like, "Well, I'm going to my
friend's house." And really you're going
somewhere else or
And people should have the right to
cheat on their spouses without being
spied on by Big Brother.
Exactly, yep.
Should the American people be afraid of
Flock?
No. I can't think of a single outcome
why why an everyday American citizen
that obviously will use a police when
they're a victim of a crime should be
afraid of a tool that is just a tool for
law enforcement to try to help solve
certain crimes that they might not be
able to solve without Flock. Uh, there
are obviously bad apples and there's
been some examples of misuse of Flock,
but that is by the user, uh, not by the
program itself. This, uh, the data
that's being used is for police agencies
and law enforcement to help solve crimes
for everyday people. It's not being sold
to Big Brothers or anything like that.
You said the feds do not have access to
Flock?
No.
They don't? Not even indirectly?
Well, yeah, indirectly I would say yes,
obviously people within the federal
government can have access to it and uh,
use it for the right purposes. Um, but
most recently there are pilot programs
being run
by Flock, uh, for federal agencies where
they [music] where they will have direct
access to Flock.
Well, I mean, look at the the movies we
grew up watching, uh, the books we grew
up reading. They were all based in
dystopian governments who,
uh,
could have started off as benevolent,
but they're not always going to be the
ones in charge when there's a transfer
of power, maybe one day there won't be
someone so benevolent in control of such
powerful technology. I would say to
Flock, there is no real benefit to
surveilling the American people.
[music]
The American people are not someone who
can be controlled. We are not someone
you can surveil and tell what to do. We
are a rebellious people.
To no one's surprise, as more and more
Americans begin to notice these cameras,
more and more people want them gone from
their communities. I showed up to a
block Flock protest in Florida with
local Floridians fighting for a
Flock-free future.
But real quick,
I'm on the road for most of the year,
whether it's villages in India, islands
in Indonesia, or rural America 2 hours
away from anything. No urgent care, no
pharmacy, nobody coming to help.
So, I picked up a medical emergency kit
from the wellness company. Here's how it
works. You fill out an online intake
form, a licensed provider reviews it,
[music]
and if it's appropriate for you, they
prescribe you a set of medications that
ships to your door from a US pharmacy.
The kit includes things like
doctor-prescribed [music]
amoxicillin, generic Z-Pak, and more.
Shelf-stable, labeled, and with a
guidebook explaining what [music] each
prescription is. It's not a replacement
for seeing a doctor, and the wellness
company says that themselves. [music]
It's what you have when a doctor isn't
reachable. If you spend real time
outside the reach of the healthcare
system, then go check it out at
urgentcarekit.com/tyler
using code Tyler to get $45 off, but
make sure to talk to your doctor about
whether it makes sense for you. Thanks
to the wellness company.
[music]
Back to Flock. Why are you guys here?
Not a big fan of Flock.
You're here to block the Flock?
Block the Flock.
Okay. Full-on Flock out?
Flock Flock out, yeah.
Okay.
What happens to countries that provide
you security over liberty?
Tell me.
Look at China. Look at North Korea.
Uh the government is increasingly
surveilling on our private lives and we
should do our best to stop that.
And so one of the things we want to look
out for is not just necessarily the
Flock cameras themselves, but the
infrastructure that's going to supply
it. We They're going to need data
centers. They're going to maybe have to
pull pave over more of Florida just to
have either the data centers themselves
that are going to monitor these cameras,
that are going to spy on each individual
person, and then they're going to use
that information to
do whatever they can. Fine fine you for
crimes that aren't
even crimes yet.
And cops keep saying if you have nothing
to hide, you have nothing to worry
about. What are your thoughts on that?
Um I had nothing to hide during COVID,
but they still arrested people for
walking down the beach. So um I don't
trust the government. I think they're
full of bull crap.
I'm here to block the Flock just like
everybody else cuz uh I'm also uh
helping try to block the data centers.
So any piece of the surveillance grid,
I'm against. If it's affecting our
health and privacy, I'm I'm I'm all for
fighting against it.
Do you think peaceful protests that gets
anything done?
Yeah, I think it's it's the way. Um if
you don't listen to the people, they
will eventually riot. You've seen it
happen in in throughout history. But I
think the right way is to to ask
questions and to hold our elected
officials accountable so that we can uh
just get it done the right way first.
I'm here because I am respectfully
protesting these Flock cameras. I
believe they're unconstitutional and it
is slowly turning not only Florida, but
the United States into a Chinese
surveillance state.
This is disgusting and deplorable and I
believe our individual freedoms are at
risk. We as Floridians need to take a
stand as a common people to tell our
local leaders sitting in these offices
that more or less take a paycheck, get
them out.
You know, I've had a couple of them in
my neighborhood. All you got to do is
just contact the HOA. For absolutely no
reason, they'll review the cameras
and anybody can get in trouble for
anything without even seeing what's
actually going on. It's ridiculous. You
know, it feels like we just live in a
straight-up surveillance state.
Mr. Fishback, how are you?
The organizer of this event is running
for governor of Florida. He says it
would be very simple to get rid of these
cameras.
We are neck and neck. The polls have us
neck and neck in this race to go on to
win on August 18th. And what's popping
up all over the state, these Flock
cameras? If it's about license plates,
why are they pointed outside of
playgrounds? Why are they pointed at
schools? Why are they pointed on hiking
trails?
I think a lot of people think that
they're simply just used to scan license
plates and make sure that the right
people are in the right places, but what
it's been used for in the past, what it
could be used for in the future is uh
indicative of a surveillance state, and
I definitely think it's something that
we should not have in our society.
It doesn't matter what your intention
is. May Maybe they have the best
intentions.
Sure.
How quickly will this be weaponized
against us? And so, we have to stop this
right here and now. And in Florida, it's
always been
that beacon of liberty in our country.
We're the ones who show the entire
nation that you can, in fact, not lock
down and keep your state open, and we'll
do it again here with Flock.
Um
She said, "What's a Flock?" Can you
answer that?
Uh Flock camera is a private company
that's been licensed by the United
States government to put cameras that
are back that go to AI databases on the
back end to sift through data and spy on
Americans.
You don't want people taking photos of
you and your kids as you drive around
Florida?
Oh, no, no, no. I mean, it's just too
much craziness going on in the world.
And then you got these people from other
countries. You just never know. It's
It's just way too much. And then you got
this AI I mean, the alien type stuff
from the Pentagon. And
Okay, true.
you you never know what's really going
on and how that information cuz
obviously the it the art of the aliens
or whatever you want to call it.
Yeah.
are way smarter than us. They're They're
things go like that. So, what if they
have a way to tap in,
then clone a person? I don't know.
Would you sacrifice a little bit of
privacy and freedom for a safer
neighborhood?
I didn't even like when they said that
the TVs are watching you.
We don't trade safety for freedom here
in America. I mean, it's It's as simple
as that.
Well, when you're having something
monitor you as you leave your house, as
you go to the grocery store, everywhere
you go, I mean, that is just insane.
It's just It's It's a violation of our
fourth amendment, right?
vote to block the flock?
Yeah, I'll block block the flock.
This is an abomination to our founding
fathers, to the United States
Constitution, to the Bill of Rights, and
most [music] specifically to the Fourth
Amendment. We will not be spied on. We
will not be subject to unreasonable
searches and seizures, and that is
[music] exactly what the flock
surveillance state has become. Across
Florida, there are 4,000 flock cameras.
You can see them here. They're not just
on roads. They're outside of churches.
They're as you walk into hiking trails,
next to playgrounds, your kids'
elementary school or preschool. Ask
yourself, why would the government need
to know where you are at all times?
There are two governments in the entire
world that attempt to know where their
civilians are at all times, Communist
China and North Korea, and we aspire to
be neither of those. Can you imagine
what the pandemic would have looked like
if Anthony Fauci and his minions could
have logged on to a flock camera? Good
news is, this problem is easy to solve.
The flock cameras on this map here, they
are funded with your taxpayer money. If
elected the 47th governor of Florida, we
will block flock cameras by the simple
fact of preventing taxpayer money from
going to flock cameras in your
neighborhood, in your city, your county,
on our highways, anywhere in the state.
Right.
Florida's not China. Orlando's not
Beijing.
It's called flock for a reason, because
they treat us like animals. That's what
this is. Well, if you've got nothing to
hide, what are we worried about? That's
what tyrants say. That's what the
communist leaders of Cuba and Venezuela
say. That is what the communist leaders
of North Korea and China say. Well, if
we're going to go with that logic, if
you've got nothing wrong, you got
nothing to hide, then what are you
worried about? Then why don't we all
just wear a wire? Ben Franklin said it
best, those who dare to sacrifice
essential liberty for temporary safety
deserve neither. Thank you very much.
[cheering]
Flock Flock now. Flock Flock now.
License plate reader cameras aside,
what's the bigger picture here? Mass
surveillance,
Palantir,
Flock, data centers, Clearview AI, all
of it is part of this mass surveillance
state, which by the way is playing out
in real time in places like China. We do
not want a Chinese-style mass
surveillance social credit system where
if you say something that's anti-Semitic
or politically incorrect, you get pulled
off the grid. That's wrong and that's
unconstitutional in the United States.
Your opponents that are running for
Florida governor, what are their stances
on Flock cameras?
Well, one of them on a debate we had 2
weeks ago, one of them said that Flock
keeps us safe and I couldn't disagree
more. Does it keep someone safe when
it's wrongly accusing people of
committing crimes they never committed?
Is Flock a benefit [music] to some
crime? Of course, but it's whether it's
a net benefit.
Can this technology be used to some
degree?
Look, would I be opposed to a AI
surveillance camera in our airports or
at the border? No,
because those are high-crime areas. You
got trafficking drugs, sex, child
trafficking, and there's not really an
expectation of privacy at an airport.
So, I wouldn't be opposed to it there.
But when you're talking about on a rural
hiking path, outside of a church where
people are going to and from with their
families, schools, playgrounds, that's
where Flock cameras are today. And so, I
just don't see how you can justify that.
While Flock's defenders say if you've
nothing to hide, then you have nothing
to fear. Then why is the CEO of Flock
living behind a gated fortress protected
by security guards and changing the car
he drives and the route he takes every
day? Could it be possible that the very
man who made his fortune surveilling
every American doesn't like it when the
camera points his direction? Could it be
possible that he values his privacy, but
not yours? And why is Flock not being
transparent with the very cameras
they're placing all over America? So, I
met up with a security researcher who
found a way to map every one of these
cameras using public data alone, and
along the way found some concerning
vulnerabilities any evil hacker could
exploit.
There is an ongoing project right now
called D Flock, and you can see right
here that there is
Florida is flocked.
And yeah, Florida is flocked. Um
it covers all of the 50 states in the
area. This guy right here
is a ESP32 C5, and what's really amazing
about this is it does have its own
dedicated Bluetooth and wireless uh
chips inside of it. So, that allows me
to interface and interact with the
wireless world around me. So, what's
crazy about this is a genius before me
came and started developing his own uh
detection capabilities for Flock Safety
after this.
His discoveries led that he was using
that Flock Safety is using Bluetooth in
order to do so, and I came to figure out
that this detection capability no longer
worked in my area, and it ended up
getting patched essentially. That means
that the D Flock movement of documenting
these cameras momentarily stopped, and
that's a really bad thing because that
means that we lost all visibility and
all confidence on, you know, where these
deployments are. So, my discovery ended
up being able to determine pretty
quickly if they're not using Bluetooth
anymore, the next bet is they're
probably using wireless. So, that was
the case.
Wireless meaning Wi-Fi?
Wireless meaning Wi-Fi. So, I ended up
decoding the signal that I saw emanating
from these various different Flock
deployments, and I ended up using a
little bit of transmissions magic and
decoded some of the data that was in the
air. I ended up finding Flock Safety
signatures, and that led me let's
develop a actual new capability for
detections that anybody can use and I
made that public and open source for
anybody to have.
So I could go around with one of these
like a metal detector at the beach and
find a flock.
Exactly. You can put it in your car. You
can have it beep whenever you're driving
by a flock safety.
So without this breakthrough, there's no
transparency as to where these cameras
are?
Correct. Yeah.
have to visually see them with
You got to visually see them and
document them on D-flock which that's
way more time consuming than anything.
This also has a GPS module built into it
which means whenever you intercept and
receive a flock safety of detection,
it's going to store the coordinates of
where that flock safety detection was
taken and you can actually upload those
results to D-flock. Just like Google
Maps, it'll put the camera directly
where those coordinates are.
So the kids watching at home can go find
their own flocks themselves.
Well, yes. Exactly.
By hunting, I mean just looking at them
from afar.
Correct.
Correct and being able to map them out
and be able to identify them from a
distance just like we're doing right
now. So if you slow down a little bit,
there's going to be a flock directly to
our right and with my firmware running,
we should be able to detect this pretty
soon. I think it's right there. You can
see that we just drove past that flock
camera right there and we were about 50
yards away from it and we were able to
reliably detect it.
So I literally got flocked doing an
illegal turn in a legal park. Soon
enough in a dystopian world, I might
auto get charged my ticket in my digital
wallet. Who knows? The implications are
certainly dystopian.
Your social credit score is going to go
down.
It just went down cuz I'm a bad driver.
I'm a antisocial driver illegally
driving like a villain.
Tell me about the infrared capabilities.
Yeah, so what's interesting is that
infrared capability also gives it access
to be able to run at night time. So
using your phone with this car passing
by, you can actually see the IR sensor
kick on right now.
blink blink blink.
So the vigilantes D-flocking these
cameras, they might climb up the pole,
sniff the thing. If I was wearing a
shiesty, could the IR camera identify my
facial features?
There's been a bunch of debunked myths
on whether or not IR can penetrate
through masks, shiesties, bandannas,
whatever you want to call them, you name
it. And it's been actually proven that
they can see with through uh this type
of material. So, the IR, the invisible
light will actually go through the thin
lining of that material, and it can
actually determine your facial structure
through skeletal development as well as
muscular development. First of all,
whenever you go through TSA and
everything like that, all of that data
is retained for training purposes.
And if you are actually, like, you know,
somebody of interest, they can use that
information on in a collection of
people's faces that they've grabbed from
TSA or just other cameras, and they can
look for that suspect who might not be
in the system yet.
If I've gone through faceless precheck,
clear, is it likely that my face is in a
database somewhere?
Your face is everywhere. And that's
that's how I think that they're going to
be able to catch some of these people
that are destroying these cameras.
Those hunting the Flocks will be hunted
themselves. [music]
Exactly.
Using the very technology they're trying
to destroy.
Yep.
Another Flock right there staring me
down. It's insulting. Not only in a nice
neighborhood, it's outside somebody's
house.
Here's the detection right there.
It's beeping?
Yep, it's beeping. It's going off. So,
it is vandalized and not able to
actually see through the lens right now.
You can see that still giving off a
signal. So, it is still alive and well.
So, whenever you spray paint it, it
might not be able to see, but it is
definitely still transmitting data or at
least attempting to.
So, let's go check it out.
What do we have here? So, we're in a
pristine neighborhood right now. What do
we have?
Right outside somebody's front yard.
They probably don't even know what that
is.
It says but that Flock camera
This one of many AI-enabled cameras
tracking your vehicle everywhere it
goes. Learn more at defl.org.
It's been hit.
And it is a
Gold metallic spray paint. So, you're
going to receive a notification right
here, so you can actually see in the
output it says one unique Flock last hit
zero seconds ago, which means we just
recorded it again. Uh but if it's a
fresh identification of one, it's going
to pop it up immediately. Hello.
Hi there, do you live here?
Yes.
I wanted to ask if you had a minute to
explain your thoughts on this Flock
camera being outside your home.
No, what
that camera?
That camera right there that's been
vandalized? You know when that came to
your your neighborhood?
Not very long ago. Who put it up?
Flock, a private privately owned
company. Do you not have any thoughts
you want to share before we leave?
Yeah, I I probably did not have it on
there, but I don't know who to call to
take it off.
She didn't even know this camera
existed. She didn't know who put it up.
She didn't even notice it get placed.
Hey, you too.
You're a good guy. Swiss, we've seen
these Flock cameras everywhere. I want
to ask you, are they in the business of
data collection or security?
They're definitely in the business of
data collection, sadly.
Why do you sound so sad?
It's just it's unfortunate because I
really do feel like, you know, crime
reduction technology could be a thing
and it doesn't have to be turned into a
global massive surveillance project and
program to spy on US citizens. So, the
fact that people that we rely on for our
safety and our protection are using this
technology and abusing this technology
against us is just something that I
won't ever stand for.
Can anything be done to stop
surveillance technology like Flock?
There are so many different people that
are going to their city councils and
they are just talking and raising
awareness and doing things like that,
filing FOIL requests, which are Freedom
of Information Acts, uh to find out how
these technologies are actually, you
know, ingesting data, how they're
operating. That is the freedom that we
have as American citizens and we need to
exercise our rights to be able to do so.
Use our voice, use our First Amendment
to stop this stuff from being abused.
But does peacefully protesting and
showing up to your town halls actually
get results? What happens when Americans
lose faith in the democratic process,
their institutions, their elected
officials, and believe their voice does
not matter.
The meeting was overwhelmed when 150
people showed up opposed to using the
cameras because of privacy concern. In
response at an emergency press
conference tonight, Mayor Carmela Men
Tello made a declaration of emergency
for public safety to use city resources
to fund the Flock contract.
We will not allow public safety to be
used as a bargaining chip, and we will
not cave to what is a vocal but small
minority.
So, I met up with No Mark, a vigilante
self-proclaimed superhero in Minneapolis
who has taken a more hands-on approach
to de-Flock America.
Real quick.
Sadly, YouTube won't let us show you
some of our craziest footage.
Waiting for the police.
But, if you subscribe to Tyler Rod.com
for five bucks [music] a month,
you can watch bonus videos I can't
upload on YouTube,
Get off the porch. GET OFF THE PORCH.
and get uncensored and early access to
all of our videos.
So, go join Tyler Rod now for five bucks
a month. Back to the video. I'm in an
undisclosed location with
No Mark.
Who are you?
I'm Minneapolis' superhero.
Why are you a superhero?
I help people in the city.
I've seen you trying to stop crime in
Minneapolis, but I've also seen you
interact with these Flock cameras.
You know, I've been taking them down.
I'm not a huge fan of these Flock
cameras. I don't like how they're using
them.
Now, I know your mission is to stop
crime in Minneapolis. Flock claims their
mission is the same thing. Why do you
hate them so much?
I think the technology Flock has could
be used for good, but the way people are
using it right now is just not. I mean,
it's it's being used to stalk people. Uh
it's been used to stalk a lot of women.
I think it's a huge invasion of privacy,
and honestly, I think it's like against
the Constitution. I didn't actually know
about them until a few months ago,
probably. Um I started doing my research
on them, started learning more, and you
know, the past month or so, I've just
been going out every night, kind of
doing what I can.
How has the public reacted?
Pretty like positively. Everyone seems
to be on my side for the most part. I
mean, I got a few people that, you know,
support them, but it's very rare. It's
probably like 98% support me.
What is your goal in taking down these
Flock cameras?
I think my goal is to send a message and
encourage, you know, people to fight for
what's right. There's no way I'm going
to be able to get them all, but I think
just by doing like what I'm doing and
sending showing that message that we
don't support this. Um, I hope it
encourages other people to fight for
what's right and hopefully people will
do the right thing.
And do you think peaceful protests can
affect any meaningful real change?
I think they definitely can. However, I
think sometimes you got to do what you
got to do. I've seen very few people
actually go out and destroy these
things.
Ah, there he is. There he is.
Wow, you scared the [ __ ] out of me. And
who is [music] this?
Would be my partner, Crosswire.
Nice to meet you, man. What's your name?
Yeah, I'm Crosswire. I'm partners with
Nomark. Essentially just helping out
with what he does.
So, he scouted out the deflock map and
found three cameras nearby.
You know, I I've had people, you know,
press me a little bit. He's kind of my
bodyguard a little bit.
Okay. You can throw down, Crosswire?
Oh, yeah.
Okay, that's all I needed to hear.
He's jacked, so.
I just Why do you wear the mask?
I protect my identity and then more so
protect the people in my life. I do a
lot of things that, you know, might piss
some people off. I've had people
arrested before and if you, you know,
they know who I am, they can find my
information.
And how often are you out here
deflocking these Flock cameras?
Right now, it's every night. Kind of
been my main project right now. I use
these little stickers, I throw it over
the camera, and then I have a little
tool in my bag that I just snip the back
wire, and then that's it. That's all I
do.
What are the maximum legal penalties for
one to do something like this?
You know, honestly, it's kind of a gray
area right now.
I obviously it's like vandalism. I don't
know what the charges could be for that.
I I I assume they'd probably charge you
with something. Definitely, if you know
anyone doing this, be be wary.
Are these cameras essentially everywhere
in Minnesota right now?
Minneapolis, St. Paul area specifically,
it's there's a big like the the land of
10,000 Flock cameras here. You know,
other places like Duluth, Mankato,
smaller cities, they only got like four
or five. Here, there's just a ton
everywhere.
And what motivated you to start
deflocking these cameras?
I just hate them.
I hate what they're being used for. I
see all the time, you know, every day it
seems there's a new story with someone,
you know, usually a police officer using
it to stalk people, um usually women.
Human use of the technology seems to be
leading to a lot of crimes in and of
itself.
Why do you hate these Flock cameras more
than, let's say, CCTV camera in front of
a shop like that right there?
These Flock cameras are all connected.
They all go to the same same database
and they can be used to map out exactly
everywhere you've been. Yeah, yeah,
those cameras are just, you know, it's
usually just like one person and it's
for their just their building, making
sure, you know, they're staying safe.
But these ones, I feel they're only used
as a cop right here.
Enemy spotted.
Um I
You know, I'm just going
Should we should we talk about this
later?
Yeah, yeah, maybe.
Nomark rerouted our path to avoid police
detection. I wanted to hear more about
why Nomark hated these cameras so much
and how he became a vigilante.
You know, I saw Minneapolis last year,
it was not not a great year for
Minneapolis.
I just thought, you know, someone should
help. There was a shooting right by my
house last year. That night, someone got
shot right in the head, like right
outside my house, and no police ever
showed up or anything. It took them like
way until they were gone that to show
up.
The dude was like shot in the head,
bleeding out, and there's no one there.
No one called the cops. It was just
awful. That's what inspired me
originally. I was like I I might as well
just go out and make sure that
everyone's good and like make sure that
there's no one like getting hurt
[clears throat] out there. If someone
was just there to help him, he could
have got to the hospital. It could have
been okay.
So you're trying to fill that gap
between what law enforcement can do or
wants to do and what the people need?
Yeah, for sure.
Besides taking these cameras down, what
what other things do you do to help the
people?
I do a lot I get a lot of like requests.
I get a lot of messages and emails.
People got very like specific things
they need me to help with sometimes
like, you know, someone stole my bike,
can you help me get it back? That's what
I started doing. And then it got it
started sh- it shifted towards there's
this evil company and they're dumping
toxic waste into the water. So, they
were like, can you go investigate and
try to take them down? And
Do you think we're headed towards some
sort of surveillance state?
Yeah, yeah. I think these things are
definitely paving that way, for sure.
Yeah, and I've also seen they're working
on they already have them, the drones,
too, as well. But yeah, I know they're I
wouldn't be surprised if their mission
is just to get one on every single
street everywhere.
And what happens if that is the case?
I think we lose like all freedom.
Why is it that you're willing to do
this?
I I don't want to sit here and wait till
we it gets so bad that there's nothing
we can do. And I want a good future for
all everyone. We're going down a dark
hole right now a little bit. I think
there's a lot of things that are you see
online a lot. It's it's a lot of
negative stuff. But I think it can be
positive.
You're saying if everyone took action on
their actual beliefs, real change is
possible.
Yes, for sure.
Where was the cop?
He was right there, but he now now he's
gone. So, I think we're chilling.
So
You're going to come up behind it?
Uh we're going to go on this side of the
street, come up around behind it so it
doesn't catch us at all. I I go from
behind so they don't see me at all.
We're in a very nice neighborhood right
now. What's going through your head?
Uh I'm just hoping that no one sees me
and thinks I'm like a burglar or
something.
No Mark sees the flight camera. He's
locking in mentally. You're about to
witness something a lot of people, I'm
sure, have dreamt of doing.
Except for that. I have a These gloves
right here, they're helping me climb
these poles really easily. They're like
football whatever gloves.
Yeah.
Super easy to stick to this pole, just
climb up real real quick.
Oh, [ __ ] This is a good time to go.
And what is your methodology? You put on
the gloves, what happens next?
Um put on the gloves. I got this little
tool I use to snip the wire. Um I don't
know if it's actually what it's meant
for, but it works.
Get to the de-blocking mechanism, and
you're pulling out a sticker to block
the lens.
First thing I do, it's really important
cuz even after the wire's cut, it will
still record.
For how long?
I believe it's until the battery dies.
Um the wire I'm cutting is for the solar
panel that charges it, so it will stay
alive for a little bit.
So your first step is to block the
camera and then you snip the wire?
Yep. So I block it first so I get in the
off chance like I fall or something I
slip and my face gets in the camera.
He's going in. He's going in to de-flock
the camera.
Do you think the de-flockers will be
flocked?
100%.
So flock around and find out.
Yep. I mean I think it's honestly low IQ
behavior. I think it's a trend. I think
people are just are doing it for fun to
make videos. You know if if it's
people's hellcats and I start keys start
getting stolen they're going to go and
have cops now some track the car and you
know you cut these cameras down then you
know
[laughter]
Okay, he's de-flocking the camera. The
sticker is on.
Okay, it is blinking red.
It's that quick. It's been de-flocked.
You de-flocked the camera. What happens
next?
I usually get out of the city as quick
as possible.
You get out of the city?
So the sticker is now obfuscating the
lens itself. You get clear sight the
camera is no longer filming and then
look at this. The cable itself has been
cut.
[laughter]
The cable itself has been sliced.
Yeah, that I mean that camera is going
to eventually go be put back up and then
now your those people going to be a
target of investigation. Someone paid
for that camera and they're not going to
just let that happen. The whole deal the
aspect of of this product is probably
the worst. You know placing a huge black
pole on the corner of a park or on every
few blocks of a residential quiet
neighborhood that people walk their dogs
with or or drive by to work or school.
You know they're going to notice these
things one way or another and they're
going to start asking questions.
That was extremely fast. Probably 5
seconds that happened.
Super quick. Doesn't take long at all.
It's over that one is done for. They got
to go replace it.
How much do you think that will cost?
Not enough. The company has infinite
money but I mean cost them time. Send
them a message. That's the most
important part.
You don't feel like you're criminal you
feel like a hero.
I mean, I I there's a criminal thing to
do, I guess, but I feel like it's it's
what what we need.
And no mark, you left a mark behind. Is
that a symbol of of what?
We we want change, and I want to fight
for a better future.
And there's very well uh maybe a code
red that goes in the camera. What
happens next? Is Is there that you think
they're on high alert now?
They could be. Um the thing is like I've
checked on the cameras I've already
deflocked. Um they're still there.
They're still broken. No one's done
anything. So, I don't know what the like
I don't know if it sends an alert. I got
I got to I do more research into it, but
I they're still broken.
Okay, so ironically right behind us
there are CCTV cameras privately owned.
And then right over there, you see the
Flock camera solar panel fueled. I mean,
a very distinct aesthetic, right? A car
is approaching. What's going through
your head?
Hopefully a cop doesn't pass right now.
That'd be really important.
You would look awfully suspicious,
wouldn't you?
I would look really suspicious.
And we see a lot of people cutting the
poles themselves out of the ground,
dismantling the Flock camera. Why is
your method as follows?
Super fast, super efficient. This thing
is super handy.
Little car is coming your way over here.
Okay, he's going for it.
Okay, he's going in. The deflocking
process has begun.
He's deflocking the cameras.
It's been deflocked.
He's going in for the cable.
Crack, snackle, pop.
Lights off.
Another one down. Cable clipped. Duct
tape on the camera. It's attempting to
do [music] its IR blink, but it is
struggling.
I think that might be the Flock camera
over there in that street light. Or
right over there.
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I think you're
right.
Can he climb the pole? Look at that
thigh grip.
He's going in for the Flock.
Tape is on. It's over. Flock number
three. This will be three Flocks in one
night. This cable looks a little bit
thicker.
And the cable has been clipped. As fast
as they came, they disappear into the
night.
I think
people more people should
fight for what they think is right and,
you know, stand up against the evil um
in whatever way they can, you know. I
don't know. I know a lot of people can't
do what I'm doing. Um a lot of people
have jobs and lives they can't risk,
but, you know, in any way you can help,
I think people should, yes.
There is no sacrifice of liberty being
taken [music] place because a a camera
being placed on public roadway. It's
capturing your vehicle being taken to
your job at Walmart. So, I would say
there are real concerns in this country
uh right now, and I think this would
fall at the very bottom of the list.
So, you're saying to that Walmart
employee watching, get your money up
before you worry about getting flocked?
Yes.
Unfortunately, I feel like technology
like this is making us look like our
adversaries, and we live in a in a
country where we talk about freedom and
liberty, and we live in the best country
in the whole entire world, and I'll
stand on that all day long. I love our
country. It's just unfortunately not the
same country that I grew up in.
People say, "Well, Flock helps solve
crime." To what extent
[music]
and at what cost?
It doesn't really bother me too much
unless they're like right up in my face,
and they're like they can see my pubes.
[music]
Like, that's where I get really, really
like worried.
Sometimes when they gain power, the
momentum keeps [music] growing, and it
grows and grows and grows. And so, we
the people have to do whatever we can to
stop it. Um so, it's like a a tight line
of where we can see the intent is there,
[music] but sometimes when the
government grows too big and grows too
strong, then [music] they might take it
a step further and say, "Well, maybe
there is no reasonable expectation of
privacy in your house."
Well, it reminds me of a quote from one
of our forefathers. Uh those who are
willing to give up a little freedom to
[music] gain a little security will lose
both and deserve neither.
After surveilling the CEO of Flock for 3
days, my private investigator found
three separate cars, three separate
routes, and three different plates of
the man who made his fortune recording
your license plate changes his own every
day to preserve his privacy, then what
does that tell you about the value of
privacy itself? The reality is the
evidence that Flock prevents crime is
non-existent. Cities that have been
covered in Flock cameras saw the same
crime reduction as cities with none
because crime fell nationwide everywhere
at the same time. Flock simply stood in
front of a falling curve it didn't cause
and called it proof. That's the trick,
taking a national trend and rebranding
it as their result. Correlation sold as
causation. [music] But of course, Flock
cameras have helped law enforcement
solve crimes. That's real and Flock will
never hesitate to take credit for any
case they're remotely involved with
while making sure to blame police
officers when their technology gives
them false positives. For anyone to call
these cameras effective is to make a
much bigger claim. [music] It's to say
that every dollar spent on Flock is the
best possible use of that dollar. Better
than every single alternative it
competes with. And look at what that
dollar actually buys. In Oakland,
California, Flock cameras produced more
than a million alerts in a single year.
So many that the police department had
to switch the stolen vehicle
notifications off because it didn't have
enough officers to chase them. They
built an alarm system that nobody was
around to answer. So let's ask the real
questions. Is blanketing America in
Flock cameras the best use [music] of
money when the same money that could
hire investigators to reopen a quarter
million suspended cases is spent on more
cameras instead? Are the innocent
families flagged by this technology,
ordered onto the pavement at gunpoint
over a misread plate, worth it? Is the
total loss of privacy for every American
who drives, logged, time-stamped, and
searchable worth the occasional stolen
car recovered after the fact because
that's the trade. Not safety for
privacy, but the feeling of safety in
exchange for the real thing we chose not
to fund.