Flock cameras draw opposition from across the political spectrum

Bipartisan opposition to Flock Safety's AI-powered license plate readers is growing ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, with Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro calling for a statewide ban and Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis announcing plans to revoke permits for the cameras on state highways. Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has frozen state spending on the technology, and Senate Republicans are investigating police misuse, reflecting concerns about surveillance and privacy across the political spectrum.

Flock cameras draw opposition from across the political spectrum Go Deeper. Create an account or log in to save stories. Like this? Thanks for liking this story We have added it to a list of your favorite stories. There are plenty of issues Republicans and Democrats disagree on, but increasingly, they're aligned on this: they want Flock surveillance cameras gone. The widespread backlash against AI-powered license plate readers, which allow police to track people over time, is becoming more of a political issue as the midterm elections approach in races from Florida https://floridapolitics.com/archives/811129-byron-donalds-wants-to-work-with-sheriffs-police-chiefs-on-flock-camera-policy/ to Ohio https://signalcleveland.org/ohio-governor-race-amy-acton-vivek-ramaswamy-flock-camera-stances-november-election-2026/ and Wisconsin https://abcnews.com/Politics/flock-cameras-becoming-issue-midterm-elections/story?id=136090655 . At a press conference late last month, Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/video/news/politics/pa-gov-josh-shapiro-says-he-would-consider-statewide-ban-of-flock-cameras/4455311/ said he believes law enforcement needs public safety tools, but Flock cameras are not among them. "I would welcome bipartisan legislation to ban these across the state," Shapiro said. "This is not something in the public interest." Turn Up Your Support MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. Earlier this week, Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis announced plans to revoke permits https://fdotwww.blob.core.windows.net/sitefinity/docs/default-source/design/bulletins/eom26-01.pdf for license plate readers on state highways. "I'm all about having law enforcement have tools," DeSantis said. "But I don't want to have this become a surveillance state." Every month, Flock cameras capture billions of license plates, along with other vehicle data. Police say this tool helps them find stolen vehicles and missing people. But the technology has been abused. Officers have used it to stalk ex-partners https://www.404media.co/cops-keep-getting-arrested-for-using-flock-to-stalk-people/ , for instance. Flock recently changed some of its features https://www.flocksafety.com/blog/flock-guardrails-address-lpr-privacy-concerns-and-police-transparency to prevent abuse. But the concerns are proving sticky, and largely bipartisan. Last week, Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott froze state spending https://www.tpr.org/news/2026-08-29/gov-abbott-blocks-state-agencies-from-spending-money-on-flock-cameras for the cameras. And Senate Republicans are investigating https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2026/08/26/congress/hawley-probes-misuse-of-flock-cameras-01051197 concerns over police misuse. Jay Stanley, a senior policy analyst at the ACLU, says a wide swath of people across the political spectrum opposes Flock cameras. Americans have a strong distaste for government surveillance, Stanley said. "Now you have to live your life with what sociologists call the third eye that is watching you," he said, "and I think a lot of Americans don't want to live that way." The reasons people on the left and right oppose Flock are different. Progressives have pointed out that the technology has been used to track immigrants https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/30/license-plate-trackers-pushback-00670550 and people seeking abortions https://krishnamoorthi.house.gov/media/press-releases/ranking-members-krishnamoorthi-and-garcia-demand-accountability-flock-group . Conservatives have warned that the cameras could be used to create a national gun registry https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/aug/28/nra-warns-flock-cameras-gun-shops-could-create-gun-registry/ . Others, such as conservative commentator Glenn Beck, say it's a form of government overreach https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4043231 . "You cannot allow this to happen. We are creating a panopticon," he said, referring to a circular prison design that allows a single guard to see all the inmates at once. Many people find that unsettling, regardless of political party https://www.dataforprogress.org/datasets/polling-on-flock-cameras . Recent polling shows that more Americans now disapprove of Flock Cameras than approve of them. Copyright 2026, NPR