Flock worker calls police on reporter filming public camera installation

MILTON, Georgia (InvestigateTV) — Flock Safety has felt the power this summertime from seashore to seashore arsenic disapproval of its automated licence sheet readers and AI-powered information exertion has increased, and a growing number of alleged misuse cases person further turned up the somesthesia connected the debate.

The company announced changes it said reside the bosom of the majority’s interest — privateness — but civilian authorities activists and galore organization leaders stay unconvinced.

Numerous communities person canceled their contracts pinch Flock successful caller weeks, and lawmakers astatine each levels of authorities person discussed aliases already implemented outright bans connected ALPR exertion successful consequence to nationalist pressure.

However, location are galore places wherever section rule enforcement’s narration pinch Flock and its web of astir 120,000 licence sheet readers person continued aliases been reaffirmed, pinch the institution telling 1 waste and acquisition publication its maturation has outpaced cancellations 10-to-1.

That intends caller devices proceed to look arsenic jurisdictions adhd to their inventory aliases upgrade their instrumentality — including 1 that was being installed connected Aug. 19 connected a suburban thoroughfare extracurricular of Atlanta, not acold from the location of InvestigateTV’s Brendan Keefe.

Three constabulary cars ended up successful the nationalist investigative reporter’s rearview reflector that Wednesday day aft he tried to movie the technician installing an upgraded camera connected a nationalist street, shown successful his video communicative astatine the apical of this story.

The extremity is 1 of astatine slightest 2 documented cases this twelvemonth successful which those moving for Flock Safety called constabulary connected group engaging successful the aforesaid class of nationalist signaling into which the institution asserts its exertion fits.

Police extremity InvestigateTV successful Milton, Georgia

After a family personnel spotted the Flock camera being worked connected Keefe drove to the location to archive the camera being group up.

Keefe parked connected the nationalist thoroughfare astatine a distance, donned a yellowish information vest and a chapeau emblazoned pinch the logo of InvestigateTV’s Atlanta connection wherever he besides works, displayed a property placard connected his dashboard and past pulled retired a camera to grounds the installation.

As Keefe began to sprout video, the installer saw him and instantly packed up his instrumentality and drove away, truthful Keefe besides returned to his car and followed respective cars behind, hoping to archive the adjacent stop.

The technician called 911.

The telephone was initially answered by Forsyth County earlier being transferred to a neighboring jurisdiction. InvestigateTV obtained recordings of some calls though nationalist records requests.

“I activity pinch Flock Safety. And I called primitively because I’m getting followed,” the installer tin beryllium heard telling a dispatcher aft being transferred. “I was getting harassed, beautiful much. Taking videos and pictures. And now, the aforesaid conveyance that pulled complete wherever I was moving astatine has been pursuing me.”

He described Keefe’s car and, later, Keefe himself, down to his chapeau and high-visibility vest.

Minutes later, aft entering the municipality of Milton, Georgia, a constabulary serviceman pulled Keefe complete and was later joined by 2 different units.

When the serviceman approached, Keefe explained who he was and what he was doing.

“I’m a personnel of the press, and I was pursuing astatine a region because I’m documenting them putting up Flock cameras. I’m an investigative reporter,” Keefe tin beryllium heard saying connected video from some his ain dashboard camera and constabulary assemblage camera obtained from constabulary by InvestigateTV/Atlanta News First.

Body camera footage shows that while Keefe waited connected the shoulder, the serviceman called a supervisor to explicate the situation.

“When I came up to them, he was down him but not for illustration correct connected his bumper,” the serviceman said arsenic she reported the specifications to the supervisor. “He said that, yeah, he was pursuing him to wherever he was trying to drawback this personification connected video mounting up the Flock cameras, but it was not to wherever you cognize truthful adjacent arsenic to break immoderate laws aliases springiness the quality he was stalking him, aliases thing for illustration that. Yeah, he was pursuing him, but he was not chasing him.”

The serviceman told Keefe the installer was concerned astir being identified.

“He said that he did spot you coming out, bringing your camera retired and everything,” the serviceman said.

According to the officer, those fixed the occupation of installing Flock cameras person been told “told conscionable to not engage” successful specified situations.

The serviceman said the installer was besides concerned astir privacy.

“And his interest much than thing is that, you know, he’s conscionable an employee. Anybody for illustration you and me. And now he’s going to beryllium successful the news and he doesn’t cognize if it’s going to beryllium targeted astatine him aliases his family.”

Keefe asked if the serviceman was suggesting the installer was entitled to privateness while moving successful public.

“So conscionable to beryllium clear, he’s entitled to his privateness successful a nationalist place?” Keefe asked. “Isn’t that the full statement that group are criticizing Flock for?”

“I’m not saying that. I’m conscionable letting you cognize what he’s concerned about,” the serviceman said. “I’m not telling you really to construe that.”

However, during the exchange, the serviceman did make a remark astir property coverage.

“I know, media, you know, the First Amendment and each of that,” she said. “But also, we should astir apt beryllium a small much observant connected who we put connected TV and worldly for illustration that.”

About 17 minutes aft the extremity began, the responding officers returned to their vehicles and Keefe was allowed to thrust away. In an emailed consequence to questions from InvestigateTV astir documenting installation of Flock devices and if the institution has guidance aliases policies surrounding really labor aliases contractors are instructed to respond, a spokesperson said:

“We do not entity to members of the nationalist aliases property photographing Flock cameras aliases unit successful public. Employees and contractors moving successful the section are expected to prioritize their information and whitethorn interaction rule enforcement erstwhile they judge they are being threatened, harassed, followed, aliases different look a information concern.”

YouTubers questioned aft filming extracurricular distribution center

The Milton extremity was not the first clip this summertime personification moving for Flock Safety summoned constabulary complete a camera.

On June 5, constabulary successful Smyrna, Georgia, responded to a 911 telephone from a Flock worker aft a group of YouTube creators began filming extracurricular the company’s distribution halfway located successful the Atlanta suburb.

In the signaling of the 911 call, the caller identifies himself arsenic a Flock Safety employee, going connected to statement the company’s narration pinch rule enforcement.

“What’s the sanction of the business?” the dispatcher asked.

“It’s Flock Safety. We do the licence sheet reference cameras that lick 20% of crime crossed America,” the caller replied.

“Fantastic. Of course, of course,” said the dispatcher. “And we admit y’all.”

“No, convey you,” the caller said successful return, laughing. “We request a favor.”

The caller claimed the group filming had “been driving astir the perimeter, fundamentally harassing everyone” moving astatine the facility.

“Three young achromatic males, astir apt mid-twenties, I’m not judge if they’re armed. And they’re carrying filming instrumentality arsenic well,” the caller said.

Three times during the telephone he raised the anticipation the group filming mightiness beryllium armed, though, erstwhile asked, he told the dispatcher he had not seen immoderate weapons.

When constabulary arrived, assemblage camera footage shows the worker was wrong the building, but complete the telephone identified himself arsenic James Boyce, the distribution site’s value manager.

Boyce, holding a compartment phone, said he was recording.

“Everybody’s recording,” the serviceman replied.

During the encounter, 1 of the YouTube creators confronted Boyce connected really calling the constabulary astir being filmed seemed hypocritical.

“That’s what you guys do to us, without our consent,” he said. “And I deliberation it’s interesting, erstwhile you guys person this happen, you telephone the constabulary and make america get stopped. But past you do it and it’s okay?”

In their emailed statement, a Flock spokesperson claimed the trio’s brushwood occurred soon aft different incident astatine the company’s office wherever the spokesperson alleged individuals had claimed to person an question and reply pinch CEO Garrett Langley and attempted to summation entree to the building.

“That understandably raised morganatic information concerns for our labor and our facilities. Those concerns besides beryllium successful a broader situation successful which Flock labor and contractors person received threats aliases been subjected to convulsive rhetoric,” the spokesperson said, referencing societal media threads and the arrest of a California man who is accused of threatening a Flock camera installer pinch a weapon and vandalizing the installer’s vehicle.

“We afloat support group expressing criticism, asking reliable questions, and making their voices heard. Threats of violence, aliases rhetoric that encourages aliases celebrates unit against employees, should ne'er beryllium portion of that discourse,” the spokesperson said.

No 1 was charged successful the YouTuber group, though the individuals were ordered to time off the premises nether an charismatic trespass warning.

Security interrogator among those stopped, calls Flock hiding individual accusation ‘absurd’

Benn Jordan was among those extracurricular the storage and identified himself to officers arsenic a information interrogator moving pinch the YouTube creators.

Jordan, an online and YouTube contented creator himself, has been digging into a assortment of privateness and information concerns crossed the exertion spectrum for the past fewer years.

Months earlier the incident successful Smyrna, Jordan said pinch InvestigateTV astir his previous video report that identified encryption vulnerabilities that would let anyone to entree dozens of Flock camera feeds.

Flock said it wished the vulnerability was coming successful conscionable 60 to 70 of its AI-powered video cameras and blamed an net work supplier for sending the incorrect SIM cards.

Even aft the encryption vulnerability was fixed, usage of that type of camera definite delicate nationalist venues continued to tie scrutiny.

Jordan said during the question and reply that increasing antagonistic attraction has led immoderate wrong the institution to return utmost measures to hide their individual information.

“That’s the astir absurd portion of it, is that their consequence to this contention is scrubbing information arsenic a institution that virtually collects information each azygous clip you walk a camera and sends it to rule enforcement,” he said.

Flock denies entree to convention held for police, information professionals

The power of increasing nationalist backlash — and above-average Georgia summertime temperatures — didn’t deter Flock from rolling retired the reddish carpet astatine the company’s yearly rule enforcement conference.

Held Aug. 18-20 successful Atlanta, Flock Forward 2026 was billed arsenic a chance for nationalist information and information professionals to stitchery for “three days of existent cases, applicable playbooks, and peer-led conversations.”

Jordan tried to be the convention but was yet turned away, arsenic was InvestigateTV.

In a video he released pursuing the event, Jordan elaborate really his registration and edifice booking were canceled 4 days anterior to the event.

Drone video and photos taken by InvestigateTV from an elevated nationalist walkway that provided a position into a rooftop reception astatine the arena showed rule enforcement officers, including immoderate wearing their badges, socializing and perusing Flock items connected display.

When InvestigateTV inquired astir attending successful a journalistic capacity — a communal believe and 1 that different nationalist rule enforcement events connection — a spokesperson said: “Flock Forward is simply a customer arena and not unfastened to the media.”

During an question and reply successful April, InvestigateTV really asked Flock Safety’s Chief Communications Officer Josh Thomas whether the institution considers rule enforcement agencies to beryllium its customers aliases citizens.

“So ultimately, I would reason that the full organization is our customer,” Thomas said astatine the time.

But while Flock arsenic a backstage institution had the expertise to limit archiving of its multi-day arena — wherever promotional materials said nationalist information entities would beryllium capable to talk pinch the institution “how to hole for metropolis assembly conversations” and time off pinch “practical takeaways” specified arsenic “ideas for investigations, deployment, connected response, and measurable impact” — vexation continues to turn successful galore communities wherever it’s mostly intolerable to opt-out of Flock’s exertion documenting mundane movements and examples of misuse person near group connected edge.

“Why can’t I opt out? Why can’t the spouse aliases ex-spouse of a constabulary serviceman opt retired of this benignant of information postulation connected their movements?” Keefe asked Thomas during the April interview.

“Why can’t the personification opt out? It’s because if your car gets stolen, if thing were to happen, moreover, the authorities requires you to person a licence plate. It’s the law. And it’s plain position information,” Thomas said. “Your licence sheet is portion of the plain view. And truthful why can’t you opt out. You can, if you want to opt retired of society.”

This communicative was updated to see further 911 audio obtained by InvestigateTV aft first publication.

Copyright 2026 Gray Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.