TL;DR: On August 19 an InvestigateTV reporter, Brendan Keefe, filmed a Flock Safety technician upgrading a license plate reader on a public street in suburban Atlanta. The technician called 911, and Keefe was pulled over in Milton, Georgia, with three police units at the stop. On June 5 a Flock employee in Smyrna, Georgia, called 911 on YouTube creators filming outside the company's distribution center, raising the possibility that they were armed three times while telling the dispatcher he had seen no weapons. InvestigateTV obtained the 911 recordings and body-camera footage through public records requests and published both on September 8.[1] Flock says it does not object to the public or press photographing its cameras or personnel in public, and that field workers may call police when they believe they face a safety concern.[1] The incidents landed in a month when, by one advocacy group's count, 90 cities and counties ended Flock contracts.[2]
The Milton stop
According to InvestigateTV's account, Keefe drove to the installation after a family member spotted the camera being worked on, parked on the public street at a distance, put on a yellow safety vest and a hat with his Atlanta affiliate's logo, placed a press placard on his dashboard, and began recording. The installer packed up and drove off; Keefe followed several cars behind. The technician called 911. The call was first answered by Forsyth County and then transferred to a neighbouring jurisdiction.[1]
"I work with Flock Safety. And I called originally because I'm getting followed," the installer told the dispatcher. "I was getting harassed, pretty much. Taking videos and pictures. And now, the same vehicle that pulled over where I was working at has been following me."[1] Minutes later, in Milton, an officer pulled Keefe over and was joined by two other units. On his dashboard camera and the police body camera, Keefe is heard explaining, "I'm a member of the press, and I was following at a distance because I'm documenting them putting up Flock cameras. I'm an investigative reporter", before the officer calls a supervisor.[1]
The body-camera footage records the officer briefing a supervisor that Keefe "was following him, but he was not chasing him", and that the following was "not to where you know so close as to break any laws or give the appearance he was stalking him, or anything like that."[1] She told Keefe the installer was concerned about being identified, that installers had been told "just to not engage" in such situations, and that the worker's worry was that "he's just an employee. Anybody like you and me. And now he's going to be in the news and he doesn't know if it's going to be targeted at him or his family."[1]
Keefe asked whether the officer was suggesting the installer was entitled to privacy while working in public: "Isn't that the whole argument that people are criticizing Flock for?" "I'm not saying that. I'm just letting you know what he's concerned about," the officer said. She added, "I know, media, you know, the First Amendment and all of that," and then: "But also, we should probably be a little more careful on who we put on TV and stuff like that."[1] About 17 minutes after the stop began, Keefe was allowed to drive away.[1]
The Smyrna call: "We need a favor"
The Milton stop was the second such call this summer. On June 5, Smyrna police responded to a 911 call from a Flock employee after a group of YouTube creators began filming outside the company's distribution center. In the recording, the caller identifies his employer and its relationship with police in the same breath: "It's Flock Safety. We do the license plate reading cameras that solve 20% of crime across America," the caller replied. "Fantastic. Of course, of course," said the dispatcher. "And we appreciate y'all." "No, thank you," the caller said, laughing. "We need a favor."[1]
He described "Three young white males, probably mid-twenties, I'm not sure if they're armed. And they're carrying filming equipment as well", and InvestigateTV reports that he raised the possibility the group might be armed three times during the call and, when asked, told the dispatcher he had not seen any weapons. When officers arrived, body-camera footage shows the caller, who identified himself as James Boyce, the site's quality manager, inside the building holding a phone and recording. "Everybody's recording," the officer replied.[1]
One of the creators put the objection directly to Boyce: "That's what you guys do to us, without our consent," he said. "And I think it's interesting, when you guys have this happen, you call the police and make us get stopped. But then you do it and it's okay?"[1] No one was charged in the Smyrna encounter.[1]
What Flock says
Asked whether it has guidance for how employees and contractors should respond to being filmed, a Flock spokesperson told InvestigateTV: "We do not object to members of the public or press photographing Flock cameras or personnel in public. Employees and contractors working in the field are expected to prioritize their safety and may contact law enforcement when they believe they are being threatened, harassed, followed, or otherwise face a safety concern."[1]
On the Smyrna call, the spokesperson said the encounter came shortly after an incident at the company's headquarters in which people claiming to have an interview with the chief executive tried to gain entry, and pointed to threats against employees, including the arrest of a California man accused of threatening a camera installer with a knife. "We fully support people expressing criticism, asking tough questions, and making their voices heard. Threats of violence, or rhetoric that encourages or celebrates violence against employees, should never be part of that discourse", the spokesperson said.[1]
Both things can be true. A field worker who has seen colleagues threatened has a reason to be wary of a stranger with a camera. And a company whose product records every passing vehicle, without the driver's knowledge or consent, has just had two of its people call the police on citizens doing openly what its cameras do continuously. That is the contrast InvestigateTV drew, and it is the one that will follow Flock into every council meeting where a contract is up for renewal.
The month this happened in
InvestigateTV notes that Flock's network is roughly 120,000 plate readers and that the company has told a trade publication its growth has outpaced cancellations 10-to-1, so new installations like the one in Milton continue.[1] The cancellations are nonetheless accelerating. Secure Justice, an Oakland advocacy group, has recorded 214 cities and counties that have dropped Flock since 2021, and Ars Technica reported on August 28 that 90 of them ended their relationship in August 2026 alone, "a fourfold increase compared to the previous month."[2] This site's own running tally of local decisions is on the US Surveillance Scoreboard.
For readers who want to do what Keefe did, Flock's own position is the useful starting point: the company says it does not object to the public or press photographing its cameras or personnel in public.[1] The guide to identifying license plate readers covers what to look for. Keep your distance, do not follow anyone, and record the encounter if you are stopped.