Americans Are Destroying Flock Surveillance Cameras as License Plate Reader Backlash Grows

A growing number of Americans are physically destroying Flock Safety's automated license plate reader cameras, which have quietly proliferated across neighborhoods, highways, and shopping centers in thousands of communities nationwide. The backlash comes as a new investigation reveals that some police departments, including Las Vegas, have received the surveillance cameras as gifts from private foundations — bypassing the public oversight and city council votes that normally govern law enforcement technology. Critics say the cameras create a dragnet surveillance system that tracks the movements of millions of innocent people, while supporters argue they are essential for solving crimes and finding missing persons. The tension between security and privacy is playing out camera by camera, bolt cutter by bolt cutter, across the country.