LAPD Drops Flock Camera Contract

Is Flock an unacceptable surveillance threat or a vital crime-fighting tool worth reforming?

Published 10 hours ago

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Above: The Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners take public questions in Los Angeles, Calif., on June 30. Image credit: Jason Armond/Getty Images

The Spin

Establishment-critical narrative

Flock's cameras are a mass surveillance nightmare, scanning millions of plates, misreading data and dragging innocent people into high-risk police stops at gunpoint. Less than 1% of scanned cars have any connection to crime, yet thousands of drivers get tracked with zero justification. This technology is fundamentally broken and no contract fix can paper over the civil liberties damage it causes.

American Civil Liberties Union 404 Media

Pro-establishment narrative

Dropping Flock entirely throws away a proven crime-fighting tool over fixable contract language around data ownership and privacy terms. The LAPD itself recovered 337 stolen vehicles and made 74 arrests in just two months using this technology. The right move is stronger contractual protections and oversight — not abandoning a system that delivers real public safety results.

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