The Surveillance State Comes to Your Neighborhood: Flock Safety and ALPRs w/ Ed of DeFlock

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On this edition of Parallax Views, J.G. Michael speaks with Ed of DeFlock during the National Week of Action Against ALPRs about the dangers of Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs), Flock Safety surveillance cameras, and the growing movement to get these systems out of our communities. Ed explains how ALPRs operate, how they create massive searchable databases of Americans’ movements, and why DeFlock believes these cameras cannot be made safe through regulation—they need to be removed.

The conversation explores documented abuses involving ALPRs, including police using the technology to stalk former partners, an abortion investigation in Texas, wrongful stops based on misread license plates, and cases in which Black motorists were disproportionately subjected to armed police encounters. Ed also discusses how ALPR data can potentially be accessed by federal immigration authorities, how privately owned cameras from businesses and HOAs can feed police surveillance networks, and why the familiar “if you have nothing to hide” argument falls apart when laws and political circumstances change.

Ed and J.G. discuss Flock Safety's claims about crime reduction, the significant error rates of automated plate recognition, Flock's facial-recognition patent, and the broader expansion of privately operated surveillance infrastructure. DeFlock's crowdsourced map now tracks more than 110,000 ALPR cameras nationwide, while its public audit project allows people to search police ALPR activity for terms related to protests, immigration, and other areas of concern.

Importantly, this is not framed as an exclusively left-wing issue. Ed discusses DeFlock's work with libertarians and conservatives who see ALPRs as an issue of government overreach, constitutional privacy, and unchecked surveillance power. With ALPR contracts blocked or canceled in more than 90 communities, the conversation examines how cross-political organizing is challenging the normalization of mass surveillance—and what ordinary people can do to fight back in their own communities.

As the National Week of Action Against ALPRs takes place across the country, with more than 20,000 people registered and 300+ events scheduled, Ed explains how listeners can get involved: obtain their local ALPR contract, organize a community meeting, and bring the issue to their city council. Learn more, find an event, and get involved at noalprs.com.