The Cop Who Took On Flock
A police officer in Pawtucket discovers that his district has been blanketed with Flock Safety license plate readers without public awareness. The story explores the tension between law enforcement's desire for surveillance tools and the erosion of individual privacy.
Why it matters
It highlights the rapid, often opaque, adoption of mass surveillance technology by local law enforcement agencies.
Pichardo was 28, five years into the job, and alone in his cruiser during one of the brief lulls between responding to the typical churn of radio calls for domestic disputes, petty disturbances, and welfare checks. The camera was compact and solar-powered, angled down toward passing traffic. Pichardo made a U-turn and drove beneath it again, more slowly this time, to get a better look.
He then began searching for the cameras on roads near highway ramps, at major intersections, along the routes into and out of the city. He found them again and again. By the time Pichardo finished circling the district, he knew exactly where he had seen them before.
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