Full transcript
Drivers across America have no idea
they're being surveilled, whether or not
they're suspected of committing a crime.
The controversial cameras that are being
used in the widespread surveillance, and
which now blanket the country, have
sparked heated outrage, even leading to
online movements dedicated to destroying
the rising technology.
Tens of thousands of automated license
plate readers, or ALPRs, have popped up
in cities and towns nationwide. The
cameras, which are promoted for making
us safer, capture images and log the
details of every passing vehicle,
including license plates, dents, bumper
stickers, and roof racks,
before sharing the information to a vast
database with law enforcement agencies
and other organizations, like
businesses, schools, and HOAs.
The largest company at the center of
this fast-growing technology, Flock
Safety, has drawn intense criticism over
concerns of invasion of privacy.
As more Americans start to take notice
and public outrage grows, a new bill has
been proposed to strip federal funding
for many local governments or police
departments that deploy the
controversial security cameras.
The bill, announced by Representative
Thomas Massie, was introduced in an
effort to strengthen the Fourth
Amendment, which [music] protects
against unreasonable searches and
government surveillance.
The Kentucky Republican wrote on X,
"I'll soon be sponsoring a bill to
withhold federal money from
municipalities and police departments
that deploy Flock and other-style
cameras to surveil law-abiding
citizens."
Flock has quietly become law
enforcement's go-to surveillance tool
around the country and has already wired
[music] itself into more than 5,000
police agencies nationwide, with nearly
90,000 cameras since 2018, according to
the Flock, an activist group tracking
the company's surveillance and
expansion.
Flock has said that the cameras are a
vital tool in helping modern-day police
solve crimes, recover stolen vehicles,
locate gunshots, track [music] fleeing
suspects, and issue amber alerts.
But critics claim that the cameras serve
as the local government's Big Brother
style mass surveillance with billions of
monthly plate reads flowing into police
databases shared across agencies each
month.
There has also been a growing movement
of anti-Flock vigilantes across the
country vandalizing the cameras in their
hometowns.
Flock Safety has acknowledged public
concerns over privacy and claim
safeguards are implemented to ensure
accountability for use of the
technology.
The company also estimates it has
supported more than 1 million
investigations, assisted in 20% of all
solved cases in jurisdictions that
partner with it, and has [music] helped
locate more than 10,000 missing people
to date.
A spokesperson for Flock Safety told the
post that Massie's bill would have real
consequences for public safety.
We do not have to choose between
protecting privacy and giving law
enforcement the tools it needs to keep
communities safe, the representative
added. We can and should do both.