Flock cameras gifted by Horowitz Foundation, avoiding public oversight

I think the money is a red herring here.

In Oak Park, Illinois, we ran into a rhyming version of this problem: the only control we had about what technology OPPD deployed was a spending limit ($15K, if I'm remembering right), above which they had to ask the board for an appropriation. Our pilot deployment of Flock cameras easily went underneath that limit.

I'm not reflexively anti-ALPR camera. I don't like them, but I do local politics and know what my neighbors think, and a pretty significant chunk of my neighbors --- in what is likely one of the top 10 bluest municipalities in the United States (we're the most progressive in Chicagoland, which is saying something) --- want these cameras as a response to violent crime.

But I do believe you have to run a legit process to get them deployed.

OPPD was surprised when, after attempting to graduate their pilot to a broader deployment, a minor fracas erupted at the board. I'm on Oak Park's information systems commission and, with the help of a trustee and after talking to the Board president, got "what the hell do we do about the cameras" assigned to my commission. In conjunction with our police oversight commission (but, really, just us on the nerd commission), we:

* Got General Orders put in place for Flock usage that limited it exclusively to violent crime.

* Set up a monthly usage report regime that allowed the Village to get effectiveness metrics that prevented further rollout and ultimately got the cameras shut down.

* Presented to the board and got enacted an ACLU CCOPS ordinance, which requires board approval for anything broadly construed as "surveillance technology" for policing, whether you spend $1, $100,000, or $0 on it.

Especially if you're in a suburb, where the most important units of governance are responsive to like 15,000-50,000 people, this stuff is all pretty doable if you engage in local politics. It's much trickier if you're within the city limits of a major metro (we're adjacent to Chicago, and by rights should be a part of it), but still.

This is why gifts to government are problematic. They are never gifts, they are end-runs around accountability and should have exceptionally high scrutiny. It is hard to say they should be outright illegal since participating in government often blurs the line between gifting government and just normal participation. This though is clearly just an end-run around democracy.

So if I understand the totality of the situation here: mans donates cameras from company he invested in, gets tax break for doing so, helps portfolio co, furthers own self-interest and propels us towards surveillance state?

Did I miss anything?

How long until YCombinator stops listing Flock "Safety" on their website as one of their proud VC success stories?

[1] https://www.ycombinator.com

Similar post here on cities being gifted surveillance tools: https://computer.rip/2025-12-26-Flock-and-Urban-Surveillance...

gotta feel bad for snowden's naivete that he thought his big disclosures would resonate with the public at large. All we got in the years since was more surveillance and for him, a life in exile.

This is the type of self-interested philanthropy that gives tech non-profits a bad name. Whatever happened to giving without the expectation of return?

Gross. Ethics laws should prohibit this.

It's democracy in action, nothing to see, please move along.

Imagine if the government was as creative with getting things done people want as it is with getting things done that people don't want.

Are people going to start "disabling flock cameras" when they are integrated into police vehicles?

Title is: Vegas police are big users of license plate readers. Public has little input because it’s a gift.

The US is such a joke. Free market my ass. What an end run around true competition. Just grift top to bottom.

Fascists, him and his VC partner

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Genuine question, why does Flock get so much bad press in the US compared to other, much more infringing surveillance tech?

Your mobile provider knows your exact location at any point in time, and the NSA probably has access to most big tech data. Those tell you much more than a license plate reader.

In much of Europe, it is quite normal to see cameras everywhere both for traffic enforcement and for crime prevention. They are generally popular with the public, eg. in the UK with a >80% approval rate. In many cities, essentially every corner has CCTV.

Is it because Flock Safety also markets to private businesses, whereas in Europe CCTV and ANPR are state-run? Or is it a cultural thing, eg. because Americans value freedom or prefer driving over the speed limit, and Flock may end that?