New bill aims to block federal funds from cities, police that use controversial Flock Safety cameras

Rep.Thomas Massie is introducing a bill to strip federal funding from any local governments or police departments that deploy controversial Flock Safety security cameras, the Kentucky Republican announced on Saturday. Flock Safety, the Atlanta-based company behind the controversial smart-cameras that can track a car based on its dents, bumper stickers and roof racks, is now the target of new legislation being sponsored by the Libertarian congressman in an effort to strengthen the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable searches and government surveillance.“I’ll soon be sponsoring a bill to withhold federal money from municipalities and police departments that deploy Flock (and other style) cameras to surveil law-abiding citizens,” Massie said.Massie, who is retiring from Congress after his seventh term in office ends this January, posted the comments on X along with a “don’t flock on me” parody flag.Flock has quietly become law enforcement’s go-to surveillance tool around the country and has already wired itself into more than 5,000 police agencies nationwide with nearly 90,000 cameras since 2018, according to DeFlock, an activist group tracking the company’s surveillance and expansion.Flock Safety CEO Garrett Langley, who once described DeFlock as a “terroristic organization” before later apologizing for his remarks against the group, previously said that the cameras are a vital tool in helping modern-day police solve crimes, recover stolen vehicles, locate gunshots, track fleeing suspects and issue Amber Alerts. But critics claim that the cameras serve as the local government’s “Big Brother”-style mass surveillance, with billions of monthly plate reads flowing into police databases shared across agencies each month.Massie’s bill comes as 18 officers in Georgia — including a police supervisor who used the camera system to track her boyfriend — have been arrested for misusing Flock Safety camera data, according to rep...