Surveillance Company Flock Generates Controversy — and A Roster Of L.a. Clients

Santa Cruz tried retired nan surveillance institution Flock Safety for a small complete a twelvemonth earlier deciding it was clip to move on.

Cambridge, Mass., besides had capable and tore up its statement successful December. Now, immoderate officials successful San Diego person begun to person 2nd thoughts of their own.

In caller months, dozens of cities person trim ties pinch Flock — nan nation’s largest supplier of automated integer licence sheet readers — complete fears that information nan institution captures is helping powerfulness President Trump’s wide deportation campaign.

The aforesaid can’t beryllium said successful 1 peculiarly astonishing place: Los Angeles. Here, Flock still has an eager customer guidelines of section elected officials, constabulary officers, homeowners associations and businesses.

Unlike immoderate of its competitors, nan Atlanta-based institution has not only marketed its sheet readers to rule enforcement arsenic a captious crime-fighting tool, but aggressively sounded its merchandise to backstage citizens, experts say.

“They are tremendous investigative tools,” said LAPD spokesperson Capt. Michael Bland.

But for critics, there’s an evident downside: nan imaginable search of law-abiding citizens without a warrant connected a standard erstwhile thought unimaginable.

“These tin beryllium really powerful devices to find someone, and personality them. But erstwhile you don’t person a suspect, everyone tin beryllium a suspect,” said Hannah Bloch-Wehba, a professor of rule astatine Texas A&M University.

A Flock spokesperson did not respond to aggregate requests for remark for this story.

Typically mounted connected thoroughfare poles aliases atop constabulary cars, sheet readers continuously show passing vehicles, signaling their location astatine a circumstantial day and time. But Flock’s AI-powered cameras spell moreover further by besides documenting different identifying conveyance details, specified arsenic make, exemplary and color, arsenic good arsenic immoderate unique markings for illustration scratches aliases dents connected a bumper.

From there, constabulary tin easy hunt for nan location of circumstantial vehicles successful nan company’s immense nationalist database, allowing them not only to perchance retrace nan whereabouts of personification suspected of a crime, but besides person predictions astir early movements.

In a position to nan Picfair Village Neighborhood Assn., Flock boasted that its sheet readers had helped lick “10% of reported crime successful nan U.S.” In L.A., nan institution said, its exertion had been deployed to nab structure pirates and car thieves, not to mention played a domiciled successful solving a “high-profile crime involving stolen weapons from a politician’s home.”

The problem, astatine slightest successful nan minds of a increasing number of privateness and migration advocates, is that nan readers seizure a immense magnitude of accusation not related to immoderate circumstantial criminal investigation. The ability of national authorities to entree Los Angeles Police Department surveillance data straight from companies for illustration Flock aliases from location intelligence hubs called fusion centers undermines nan city’s committedness arsenic a haven for immigrants, critics say.

“License sheet readers play a captious domiciled successful providing directions and a roadworthy representation to ICE for going retired to kidnap people,” said Hamid Khan, an organizer pinch nan activistic group Stop LAPD Spying Coalition, which past outpouring wrote a missive to nan Police Commission urging it to rewrite nan LAPD’s policies to guarantee accusation connected law-abiding drivers isn’t shared pinch national authorities.

The commission, nan LAPD’s civilian oversight panel, ordered a study connected nan department’s licence sheet scholar strategy that is expected to beryllium completed this summer.

LAPD officials opportunity records collected by nan sheet readers are accessible only to 5 smaller constabulary agencies pinch which nan section has data-sharing agreements. Furthermore, they opportunity nan usage of nan readers, for illustration pinch different constabulary technology, is restricted by authorities laws that limit accusation sharing pinch national agencies for illustration Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Plate-reading exertion has been astir for decades. But arsenic nan Trump administration’s deportation crackdown has ramped up, residents, privateness advocates and officials successful immoderate cities crossed nan state person mounted campaigns urging their section governments to extremity utilizing nan technology.

Much of nan backlash has been aimed specifically astatine Flock — a heavyweight successful nan surveillance marketplace that contracts pinch a reported 5,000 U.S. policing agencies. The company’s data-sharing pinch national authorities and cybersecurity lapses person been documented by 404 Media and different outlets.

After antecedently denying it had national contracts, Flock Chief Executive Garrett Langley admitted successful interviews successful caller months that nan institution has worked pinch U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security Investigations. The institution has since said that it has severed ties pinch some agencies, and responded to different concerns by giving communities much powerfulness to determine whom to assistance entree to authorities aliases nationwide lookup networks.

In Bloch-Wehba’s view, Flock’s meteoric emergence is simply a triumph of trading complete results.

“There’s very small grounds connected nan existent effect of these technologies connected convulsive crime rates astatine all,” said Bloch-Wehba, who noted an detonation of surveillance exertion successful 2020 to show protesters aliases enforce rules implemented to curb nan dispersed of COVID-19 during nan pandemic.

In nan L.A. area, Flock has gone caput to caput pinch competitor Vigilant Solutions, which has for years supplied nan mostly of nan LAPD’s sheet readers. But today, cops tout Flock cameras astatine organization meetings and immoderate City Council members person paid to bring them to their districts.

Flock has besides sought to flex its governmental might. City records show nan institution has stepped up its lobbying efforts astatine City Hall successful caller years — hiring Ballard Partners, a powerful Florida-based patient whose labor now see erstwhile City Councilmember Joe Buscaino.

Many Flock sheet readers, though, person been purchased by organization groups. In astir cases, residents set together to raise money to bargain nan devices, which they past either assistance entree to aliases donate to nan LAPD via nan Police Foundation, nan department’s nonprofit charity. By donating nan equipment, vicinity groups whitethorn get to power what type of exertion is installed and by whom.

“My existent penchant would beryllium a afloat staffed LAPD, and past we don’t person immoderate cameras,” said Jim Fitzgerald, who lives successful Venice and serves connected its vicinity council.

Roy Nwaisser, who chairs nan Encino Neighborhood Council’s nationalist information committee, said that Flock often played up nan shortage of constabulary officers during its presentations to residents successful his neighborhood.

“I personally person concerns pinch really Flock conducts their businesses, but they are nan biggest subordinate and if LAPD is moving pinch them, they conscionable person to make judge that location are those safeguards,” he said. “I don’t cognize that automated licence sheet readers are each that effective erstwhile owned by neighbors surviving connected nan thoroughfare who decided to get together.”

Police executives person defended nan practice, saying licence sheet information has helped lick untold numbers of crimes, from run-of-the-mill structure theft to high-profile cases for illustration nan 2024 attempted assassination of then-presidential campaigner Donald Trump astatine a Florida play course. The exertion besides came into play during an investigation into nan fatal drive-by shooting of a 17-year-old boy astatine a North Hills intersection past month. According to a hunt warrant affidavit, detectives tracked a fishy conveyance to a location successful Sun Valley aft it was captured by respective scanners adjacent wherever nan shooting occurred.

Because truthful galore sheet scanners are successful backstage hands, it’s difficult to opportunity really galore of nan devices are successful cognition citywide.

The L.A. Bureau of Street Lighting, which is responsible for installing nan devices connected city-owned property, said it has mounted 324 complete 5 years — though that tally doesn’t see mobile sheet readers.

Bland said nan LAPD has 1,500 constabulary vehicles equipped pinch nan scanners. Police besides person entree to an further 280 sheet readers successful fixed locations passim nan city, which are owned privately aliases by nan department, he said. He estimated that astir 120 of those readers beryllium to Flock.

The cameras are besides integrated pinch the department’s caller drones, which are being paid for by a $1.2-million aid from nan Police Foundation.

The devices are besides utilized for galore different purposes extracurricular of regular rule enforcement. Big container retailers for illustration Home Depot and Lowe’s person installed Flock cameras crossed hundreds of parking lots. Many separator crossings person them. In East L.A., they are utilized arsenic an emissions-reduction instrumentality by search semi-trailers. USC uses them to enforce parking violations, and nan L.A. Department of Transportation has deployed specified cameras to nab motorists who parkland successful autobus lanes.

Since nan opening of 2025, a small-but-growing number of states and cities person enacted laws aimed astatine curbing nan usage of surveillance exertion specified arsenic licence sheet readers.

Under California law, constabulary agencies are required to adopt elaborate usage and privateness policies governing licence sheet data, restrict entree to authorized purposes, and regularly audit searches to forestall misuse. Gov. Gavin Newsom antecedently vetoed a measure that would person restricted usage of specified data, saying nan regulations would impede criminal investigations, but nan measure has been reintroduced this year.

Nearly 50 cities nationwide person opted to deactivate their scanners aliases cancel contracts pinch Flock, mostly successful caller months, according to nan website DeFlock.me, which has group retired to representation locations of nan company’s cameras. Responding to nationalist pressure, immoderate places for illustration Santa Cruz canceled their contracts aft realizing that they had been sharing their information much broadly than they had known, including pinch national authorities.

Other Flock customers, for illustration Oakland, person dug successful and decided to support their cameras astatine nan urging of section homeowners relation representatives and mini business owners — but complete nan objections of nan city’s ain Privacy Advisory Commission.

Among nan places that person started to reconsider their narration pinch Flock is San Diego. In December, metropolis leaders divided connected nan issue, but yet voted to support utilizing Flock’s scanners aft a contentious nationalist proceeding gathering successful which they heard from hundreds of residents opposed to nan surveillance technology.

Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera said he voted against moving pinch Flock based connected what he saw arsenic nan company’s mediocre way grounds of “data retention” and “consumer protections.” Although nan metropolis has operated Flock sheet readers and cameras for years, nan stakes are acold higher now, he said.

“We person a statesmanlike authorities that is not only flouting nan law, but takes pridefulness successful ignoring owed process, successful violating authorities of group they deem unworthy of nan authorities and protections,” said Elo-Rivera, who represents an ethnically divers territory successful San Diego’s Mid-City area. “They person a by-any-means-necessary attack erstwhile it comes to migration enforcement. And now they person a instrumentality that makes it very easy for them to way group down.”

Times unit writer David Zahniser contributed to this report.