Residents across the United States are taking direct action against Flock Safety's automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras, with reports of vandalism and destruction from California to Connecticut. The acts of protest come amid rising public anger that the surveillance network aids U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in deportations.

Flock Safety is an Atlanta-based surveillance technology startup, valued at $7.5 billion a year ago. Its network of cameras photographs vehicle license plates, allowing authorities to track movements. The company has faced sustained criticism for enabling federal access to its nationwide database, a resource increasingly used by ICE under the Trump administration's immigration policies.

Direct Action Replaces Debate

While some communities lobby local governments to end contracts with Flock, others are resorting to vandalism. In La Mesa, California, cameras were broken and smashed just weeks after the city council voted to continue their use, despite majority opposition from meeting attendees. A local report cited strong resident concerns over privacy.

Incidents have been recorded from Illinois and Virginia to Oregon, where six cameras were cut down from poles and at least one was spray-painted. A note left at the base of severed poles read, “Hahaha get wrecked ya surveilling fucks,” according to journalist Brian Merchant's reporting for Blood in the Machine.

The Scale of Surveillance and Pushback

According to the activist project DeFlock, which maps license plate readers, nearly 80,000 Flock cameras are deployed across the country. This scale has prompted significant pushback; dozens of cities have rejected the technology, and some police departments have blocked federal authorities from accessing their Flock systems.

Flock states it does not share data directly with ICE. However, reports indicate that local police departments, which contract for the cameras, have shared their access and data with federal immigration authorities.

Official Silence and Ongoing Tensions

Flock Safety did not respond to a request for comment from TechCrunch on the vandalism reports. The company's silence comes as the debate over public surveillance, privacy, and its role in federal immigration enforcement continues to fuel community tensions and direct action nationwide.