Flock is quietly training police to lobby their cities' leaders

Flock Safety operates a national network of license plate surveillance cameras that scan vehicles within range and send data to local police. The system can alert police to wanted vehicles and help investigators trace routes taken by drivers. The company hosted a private 60-minute virtual training for law enforcement officers focused on how to communicate with city councils about the technology. Flock’s materials describe the training as providing ways to reframe common concerns and respond to misinformation. Privacy advocates and immigrant rights groups have raised concerns as cameras expanded across the Bay Area, including allegations of use for deportation, monitoring activists, and investigating abortion seekers. Oakland approved a $2 million contract after public opposition, while Berkeley paused a planned expansion and Richmond shut down its Flock system.

"The company's surveillance cameras track people's movements by scanning the license plates of all vehicles that come within their range. The data can instantly alert police to wanted vehicles and can be used by investigators to trace the routes drivers took."

"The training, according to a public description on Flock's website, equips police with "clear ways to reframe common concerns and respond to misinformation.""

"In Oakland, the City Council approved a $2 million contract with Flock for hundreds of cameras in December, but only after dozens of residents voiced their opposition, citing concerns with mass surveillance, the potential that the data could get into the wrong hands, fears that the powerful camera network could be abused by police and others with access, worries cameras can be hacked, and other scenarios."

"Berkeley city leaders pulled back from a planned $2 million expansion of their contract with Flock earlier this month, citing instances in other states where the company's cameras have been used to monitor protests and assist in immigration enforcement."

Read at The Oaklandside