I first wrote about the use of Flock license-plate readers in Missouri in early 2025. Then and now, the use of the license-plate readers to track cars on public roads and elsewhere was expanding across the nation.
As I stressed in my first piece on Flock, there may be no clear “right to privacy” on public roads, but that doesn’t mean average American citizens should be tracked as we simply move around doing our daily business. Police have abused and will likely continue to abuse these systems. One police officer was recently fired in Joplin for doing so.
The risk, however, goes beyond bad law enforcement actors misusing the system. Concerns about constant government surveillance are legitimate. Surveillance equipment such as this was used by police around the world to enforce authoritarian restrictions during COVID. We shouldn’t have to give up our personal liberty—and that liberty includes the right not to be tracked by the government without a warrant—under the guise of safety.
Thankfully, people are starting to push back against Flock and similar police surveillance equipment. I don’t believe our state or our country should become a vast surveillance society (assuming we are not already there), even if it makes us “safer” in some ways.
The pushback against Flock has come in many forms. There are websites devoted to exposing and opposing it. John Oliver’s HBO show just released an episode dedicated to the issue. There have also been numerous acts of vandalism against Flock equipment. (Note: I do not support vandalism.)
Several Missouri communities have recently ended their Flock camera contracts. The towns of Weston, Seneca, Louisiana, and Bolivar have cancelled, or are in the process of cancelling, their Flock contracts. The Dutchtown CID in St. Louis did the same. I hope that this is the start of a major policy shift against the cameras.
Much more to come from me on this topic. The solution to crime in Missouri does not have to be a vast surveillance system watching every person in the state.
