Amid intense backlash, people are vandalizing Flock surveillance cameras

Brady O'Rourke in Crystal, Minn., holds a sign he made to block the view of a Flock camera, which tracks vehicles driving along the road. It's one of several actions Americans are taking to oppose this police surveillance technology. Meg Anderson/NPR hide caption

A few times a week, Brady O'Rourke walks to the busiest street near his house in Crystal, Minn., carrying a large metal pole with a bright yellow sign taped to the end.

It's a roof rake, normally used to scrape snow off a house, but O'Rourke has different plans for this one. At the intersection, he stops at a Flock camera, an automated license plate reader that police use to track vehicles.

Normally, this camera records everyone who drives down this street. But not right now: O'Rourke lifts his rake into the air and blocks the camera with his sign. He waves at passing cars. Some drivers smile and wave back. A few people honk their horns.

"I don't want to pay to be surveilled," O'Rourke says. "My tax dollars are funding cameras at the end of my block. I don't want to live like that. I don't think anybody should have to live like that."

O'Rourke, inspired by a man in Florida who used a pool skimmer to do the same thing, is part of a growing movement against automated license plate readers like Flock.

This week, Flock Safety, the Atlanta-based maker of the cameras, held its annual conference amid intense backlash.

According to the company, more than 5,000 law enforcement agencies use their technology. More broadly, there are more than 130,000 AI-powered automated license plate readers on American streets, according to DeFlock, an advocacy group that tracks the cameras.