00:01:12.540If they're going to track us, that's against our constitutional rights.
00:01:17.140You know, I have the right to move about this country free
00:01:20.660without somebody looking over my shoulder concentrating.
00:01:24.720Flock Safety's solar-powered license plate readers have blanketed America like a digital drag net, scanning tens of billions of plates a month, feeding hot lists to cops and private HOAs, and turning every street corner into a permanent checkpoint.
00:01:43.140The backlash is real. Dozens of cities have ditched the contracts after privacy scandals.
00:01:49.840For many, fly cameras are supposed to make communities safer.
00:01:53.560But after three officers allegedly abused the system for personal reasons,
00:01:57.580some residents are questioning whether the technology has enough safeguards.
00:02:01.540If they're able to use it for all these other reasons like tracking people,
00:02:06.060either they need a new company that has protections on the gear to where you can't do all that stuff,
00:02:13.520or there needs to be some checks and balances on it.
00:02:16.960False alerts that put innocent drivers at gunpoint.
00:02:21.260Get on the ground, dude, now. You're going to get bit.
00:02:46.260hey face away from me now right now man we got we got a hit on the car in a stolen vehicle so
00:02:51.140you're about to you're about to cooperate with us i cooperate but i trust you it's not so you have
00:02:56.660any weapons on you no turn around i gotta put you in these for right now okay i've got a baby in the
00:03:02.660car so we have a flat camera system that's around these businesses we've got a hit from that flat
00:03:07.620camera okay unauthorized federal data grabs and that creeping sense that your every commute is
00:03:18.980being logged for the permanent record well guys flock just got wings those street side cameras
00:03:25.060that are already all across america what if i told you they're not stopping there the same company
00:03:30.340behind the cameras are now putting autonomous surveillance drones in the sky and depending on
00:03:35.140who you ask, it's either the future of public safety or the more likely option, the biggest
00:03:40.260expansion of government surveillance we've seen yet. Now the company's automated license plate
00:03:45.260readers have spread across the country, creating one of the nation's largest interconnected video
00:03:49.720surveillance networks. After partnering with aviation software company Aerodome, Flock launched
00:03:54.920Flock Alpha, an autonomous police drone built to respond to emergencies before officers even arrive.
00:04:00.440The drone sits inside a waterproof docking station waiting for a call, and when a 911 report comes in, the drone can launch automatically and fly up to 60 miles per hour.
00:04:10.640Officers don't even have to be standing nearby. They can deploy it directly from one of these little things, a smartphone.
00:04:16.000And this thing isn't just flying overhead. It's got thermal imaging, high-definition cameras, and powerful optical zoom.
00:04:22.200And while according to Flock, it can even read a vehicle's license plate from 2,000 feet away. That's not terrifying at all.
00:04:28.320But instead of the surveillance layer being torn down, it's being rebranded.
00:04:34.820Axon, the taser and body cam giant, has stormed into the gap with its own pole-mounted and streetlight retrofit ALPR systems, the same hardware partners Flock used.
00:04:47.480Guess who else owns Axon? That's right. According to financial disclosures, the president purchased between $1 and $5 million of Axon stock.