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The surveillance network is already here

Flock Safety’s license plate reader network has grown to more than 120,000 cameras across 6,000 communities

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

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If you have driven basically anywhere in America recently, there is a decent chance a Flock camera has seen your car.

The small, discreet cameras sit on poles beside roads and intersections, photographing passing cars, reading their license plates and logging where and when they were spotted. Police departments use them to find stolen cars, track suspects and locate missing people.

There are now more than 120,000 Flock cameras across more than 6,000 communities, according to the company. The cameras spread quietly in the background for years. The backlash is now happening quickly, in full view. Cities are canceling contracts. Residents are packing local meetings to demand cameras come down. More than 20 jurisdictions moved toward dropping Flock in July alone, according to DeFlock, an activist group tracking the network. 

In Minnesota this month, someone cut down the poles holding all eight of one town’s cameras. The opposition has become unusually........

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