Automatic license plate reader (ALPR) companies like Flock Safety are quietly trying to build a nationwide mass surveillance system. If there are Flock cameras in your city, they are tracking, logging, and sharing your movements without a warrant. But we're not powerless. More and more communities are rejecting these creepy cameras — and yours can be one of them!

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A source tells News 12 that at some point last week, four of the city's Flock Safety license plate recognition cameras were vandalized and knocked down.

"Good, I'm glad," said Milford resident Arthur Pocevic after hearing the news. "It wasn't me, but I have no problem with that."

Unlike Milford's speed cameras that were installed a couple months ago these cameras have been up for about a year.

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Advocates say it’s too easy to abuse automated license plate reader technology.

Flock cameras—solar-powered, automated license plate readers, weighing less than 3 pounds and designed to be unobtrusive—can be found on 80,000 street corners throughout the country. The company behind the cameras built an $8.3 billion business empowering officers to track people’s movements. Nationwide, Flock cameras log billions of license plates each month. And now dozens of reports are emerging of police using the cameras not to solve crimes, but to stalk their partners and exes.

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By now, millions of people have seen our story about how a series of errors between Flock Safety and law enforcement led police to track me for days via automated license plate cameras and ambush me in a coordinated takedown. Millions more have seen the body cam footage of the incident we obtained and published. It’s become part of an even larger and more heated conversation about privacy in America, and one week later, I’ve learned a lot more about how and why it happened—including from Flock itself.

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SAN DIEGO—San Diego small business owner Esperanza Gomez can continue to operate her money services business free of ruinous financial surveillance after a federal appeals court ruled today in her favor. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court order directing the federal government to halt a targeted financial surveillance rule aimed at California money services businesses (MSBs). Esperanza sued with the Institute for Justice (IJ), a national nonprofit law firm that also sued to protect Texas businesses from the same surveillance.

“I am very relieved to have my victory confirmed by the court,” said Esperanza. “If the rule had gone into effect, I don’t think I could have kept my business. I’m also proud that my win has saved many similar businesses.”

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MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- A second Milwaukee police officer has been charged with misusing Flock cameras to stalk two victims.

The detective was assigned to investigate another officer misusing the cameras -- but he was doing the same thing. Tehrangi Chapman, 51, is charged with misconduct in public office and misuse of a GPS device. He's a detective for Milwaukee police with 22 years of service. Chapman has been suspended since March 13.

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Published originally at Cato.org. Published under Creative Commons License

The Supreme Court fought for privacy in Chatrie v. United States, putting another dent in unchecked surveillance that has become too common. Yet, in a concurring opinion, Justice Neil Gorsuch pointed out an important issue: the decision seems to be drawing lines in the sand when it comes to the Fourth Amendment. While I’m happy to see the Fourth Amendment affirmed, Gorsuch is right. 

Chatrie v. United States

If you have not been following the case, the issue centers around how the police investigated a bank robbery. In short, the police used a geofence warrant to get Google to hand over the location history of anyone who had been in the area during the robbery. After sifting through the data, the police eventually landed on Okello Chatrie. 

Building on a similar case (Carpenter v. United States), the Court reminded everyone that the Fourth Amendment serves as a check on the government’s power:

The Fourth Amendment protects individuals’ reasonable expectations of privacy, and governmental “intrusion into that private sphere generally qualifies as a search.” The Amendment’s “basic purpose” is “to safeguard the privacy and security of individuals against arbitrary invasions by governmental officials,” and it was designed “to place obstacles in the way of a too permeating police surveillance.” 

8 Ways To Take Down Flock Without A Sawzall:

1. Demand An Audit

Most cities never independently audit whether Flock cameras in town actually reduce crime. Ask your city council to show evidence that these cameras reduced violent crime. Make them prove it. They usually can't.…

— Jason Bassler (@JasonBassler1) July 1, 2026

Every time you pull out of your driveway, you probably still harbor the illusion that you are a free individual going about your business. The reality is far more grim: your vehicle is bleeding data into a massive, unregulated dragnet the moment you pass the neighborhood entrance. Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) and Flock cameras have infested our communities, quietly transforming the American landscape into an open-air panopticon.

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