A man dressed as the “Star Wars” villain jokingly spoke to San Diego city officials in support of license plate reader cameras.
SAN DIEGO — As nationwide backlash grows against Flock surveillance cameras, science-fiction’s best-known figurehead for fascism is speaking out in their favor.
A man dressed as Darth Vader, complete with black helmet and cape, took the microphone during a Public Safety Committee meeting Aug. 19 in San Diego.
“The Emperor is a fan of Flock,” the man declared in the “Star Wars” villain’s signature raspy voice. “And we must continue utilizing Flock technologies so that we can follow and surveil the rebel scum.”
Thousands of Flock License Plate Reader cameras are deployed across the country. They record a car’s make and model, and snap a picture of its license plate. That information then goes into a nationwide database for participating agencies. According to Flock Safety, they have cameras in 5,000 cities across 45 states. Law enforcement agencies can use Flock’s National Lookup to search data across jurisdictions without a warrant.
“We all know that Flock cameras are not only following the license plate readers, they are following children in parks and gymnasiums,” the man dressed as Vader said.
Flock and many law enforcement agencies credit the cameras with helping them track down wanted individuals and find missing people. But the cameras and the surveillance network have also been misused by officers, including to stalk former romantic partners, and civil liberties groups claim they are being used to track political protesters and people seeking abortions.
“I need this so I can stalk my ex-girlfriend,” Darth Vader told city officials.
Dozens of cities in recent months have chosen to cancel or not renew their contracts with Flock because of privacy concerns, cost or vandalism to the cameras by members of the public. Los Angeles let its contract with Flock expire in July because of concerns about data privacy and use by federal immigration officers.
In July, U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky) posted on X that he’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.”
Flock recently announced changes in response to privacy concerns, making what were previously optional guardrails mandatory for its users to implement by Jan. 1. That includes an audit tool that’s intended to flag abnormal search behavior and shortening the standard data retention window from 30 days to seven. Officers will now also be required to enter a code that ties each search to a specific case before it’s run.