Jessica Burbank on Flock Safety's Growing Surveillance Network

The Rise of Flock Safety

• 💡 Flock Safety is a $7.5 billion company that has rapidly grown by securing government contracts for surveillance technology.
• 🎯 They provide AI-powered license plate readers and live view cameras to police departments, promising crime-solving capabilities.
• 🔍 The company's unique offering is a searchable nationwide network of these license plate readers, accessible to any law enforcement agency that signs a contract.

Municipal Surveillance Rollout

• 🏢 Flock's expansion occurs at the municipal level, often through quiet consent agendas in city council meetings, bypassing public notice and debate.
• 💰 In Scarsdale, a wealthy New York suburb, a contract for over a million dollars for license plate readers was approved without significant public scrutiny.
• 📉 This strategy allows Flock to build its network city-by-city, avoiding federal-level scrutiny or debate.

The Pitch and Fourth Amendment Concerns

• 🚨 Flock's pitch to municipalities is that their cameras reduce the need for personnel and resources by providing a readily available body of evidence.
• ⚖️ This persistent surveillance raises Fourth Amendment concerns, as it involves constant data collection without probable cause for searches or seizures.
• 🗺️ The technology has been used to track individuals for immigration cases and to monitor people crossing state lines for abortions, highlighting broader privacy implications.

Building a National Network

• 🌐 Flock operates over 88,000 cameras in 49 states, with a model that allows data sharing between municipalities to access a wider network.
• private businesses to install cameras on their property, further expanding their surveillance reach.
• 🔗 The unique selling proposition of Flock is its national network, enabling tracking of individuals across state lines.

Lack of Transparency and Oversight

• 🤝 There are concerns about a revolving door between law enforcement and Flock employees, and a lack of competitive bidding processes for contracts.
• 🚫 Flock often uses