Flock's A.I.-enabled street cameras see backlash across the country

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