The Aporia · Cops Are Asking Axon to Make Their Cameras Look Different From Flock So People Don't Destroy Them

Axon's CEO Rick Smith revealed in a now-deleted webinar that police are asking the company to make its automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) look different from Flock cameras due to widespread vandalism of Flock devices. The number of vandalized Flock cameras is not explicitly stated, but authorities have arrested and charged multiple people for destroying them. Axon is considering redesigning its Outpost ALPR camera or making it look more like a streetlight-mounted Lightpost product, which is harder to vandalize. This comes as some towns and cities are switching from Flock to Axon's cameras due to concerns over their use in tracking individuals without warrants.

Written by AI on 2026-09-03, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

Story summary

Benn Jordan, a YouTube host, wanted to attend the Flock Safety convention in Atlanta to investigate the company's relationship with law enforcement. However, after discovering that Flock had canceled his ticket and was trying to keep him out, he decided to set up radio equipment and a drone outside the convention center to unmask attendees and even listen to microphones inside. Jordan's actions were in response to Flock's claims that police customers don't need a warrant to track drivers with its automated license plate reading cameras because drivers have "no reasonable expectation of privacy" on public roads.

Flock Safety has 120,000 cameras across 49 states and works with over 5,000 law enforcement agencies, capturing more than 20 billion license plate scans every month. The company's CEO, Garrett Langley, appeared on Fox News to plead for a national "compromise" to save the company from efforts to ban its technology outright.

Meanwhile, some law enforcement agencies are asking Axon to redesign their automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) to look different from Flock cameras due to widespread vandalism of Flock's devices. Axon has reported that some towns and cities are switching from Flock to Axon's cameras after discovering abuses of access to stalk ex-spouses, among other concerns.

The controversy surrounding Flock Safety highlights the need for strong legal protections against mass surveillance technology, rather than simply banning a single company or product.

Written for “Flock Camera Controversy” on 2026-11-01, grounded in this article and the 4 other(s) covering the same event.

📰 Flock Camera Controversy

Crime & Law · 5 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

This article reads leans right and hedges 4% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.

The Belated Backlash Against Flock Cameras Same event

Reason

⚖️ Leans left further left than this Hedges 32 of 203 claims Outlet record 94/100

Flock Taught Cops How to Surveil No Kings Protesters Different event

404 Media

⚖️ Leans strongly right further right than this Hedges 2 of 43 claims Outlet record 95/100

“Article A discusses Axon's efforts to redesign their cameras due to vandalism, while Article B describes a webinar where Flock taught law enforcement how to use their technology for surveillance, with no mention of vandalism or camera design”

Flock cameras draw opposition from across the political spectrum Different event

NPR

⚖️ Leans left further left than this Hedges 1 of 26 claims Outlet record 60/100

“The articles cover different aspects of a broader issue regarding Flock cameras, one article discussing Axon's response to Flock vandalism and the other focusing on the growing opposition from various political parties.”

A New Bill Reflects the Bipartisan Backlash Against Flock-Enabled Mass Surveillance Different event

Reason

Hedges 4 of 51 claims Outlet record 67/100

“Article A reports on Axon's response to Flock vandalism and switching from one camera brand, while Article B discusses a new bill introduced by lawmakers in opposition to Flock-Enabled Mass Surveillance”

Flock Is Canceled—And Its Competitors Are Profiting Different event

Mother Jones

⚖️ Leans left further left than this Hedges 3 of 30 claims Outlet record 95/100

“Article A mentions law enforcement switching from Flock to Axon cameras due to backlash, while Article B reports on Florida revoking permits for all license-plate-recognition cameras, including those of Flock and its competitors.”

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability

Source leaning vs. consistency

404 Media · 177 article(s) · 0 correction(s) detected

No corrections detected for this publisher. That may mean careful reporting, or simply that nothing has been checked.

Joseph Cox

28 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction

🔮 On Friday, Andy Yen, the CEO of Proton, cancelled a series of nearly company-wide ‘re-interviews’ that would have forced employees to explain how they are using AI, with the clear intention that they may be fired if not using it enough in the eyes of Proton leadership, according to six current Proton employees and audio of an around two hour all-hands meeting obtained by 404 Media.

2026-10-30 · assertive framing · Proton’s CEO Cancels AI ‘Re-Interviews’

🔮 After the break, Sam tells us why former Yahoo CEO Marrisa Mayer can’t keep pretending ‘gender doesn’t matter.’

2026-10-29 · assertive framing · Podcast: Flock CEO Says the Backlash Isn’t Real

🔮 In the last few months, Yen set up an email address for employees to contact if they come across anything blocking adoption of AI at Proton, so leadership can “ruthlessly smash everything that stands in the way of AI velocity;” Proton installed software on workers’ computers that track how much AI code the company is generating; and Yen said this is the last year that Proton will hire engineers at all, and instead only hire people to build things with AI.

2026-10-29 · assertive framing · Manifestos, Fear, and ‘Loser Thinking’: Inside Proton’s AI Reckoning

🔮 A letter written by Telegram, and providing a specific user’s phone number, user ID, and IP address, reads: Dear Sir or Madam, For this particular case, the following information was available: User #7149269705 : +201155664529 [Mahmoud Almohtadi] IP 184.186.72.239, 8 Oct 2025 2:08:12 We hope this information will be helpful in your investigation. Kind regards, The Telegram Team The letter says Telegram provided the data “voluntarily” and that by providing it, Telegram is “not conceding that we are subject to U.S. jurisdiction for this or any other request or any purpose.”

2026-10-16 · assertive framing · Here’s What Telegram Giving Data to the U.S. Government Looks Like

🔮 This is pretty normal in the advertising world, but I seriously doubt that when most of ChatGPT’s many, many users see an ad, they realize that might be because someone, somewhere, uploaded their phone number into OpenAI’s systems.

2026-10-15 · assertive framing · ChatGPT Ads Target Your Phone Number, Email

🔮 Multiple Democrat, Republican, and Independent lawmakers have introduced new pieces of legislation that, if passed, would dramatically curb federal agencies’ access to Flock cameras, with the lawmakers referencing reporting by 404 Media in their explanations for why the legislation is needed.

2026-10-06 · assertive framing · Lawmakers Introduce Multiple Laws to Curb Flock After 404 Media Coverage

🔮 Although any potential damage will be less if ShinyHunters doesn’t publish the data publicly, the theft happening at all still presents much of those same national security risks, with the data providing granular insight into how the FBI operates. “Since the very beginning we had made our decision that we would never publish this data.

2026-09-28 · assertive framing · FBI Hackers Say They Won’t Publish Massive Trove of FBI Employee Data

🔮 What is different in this latest Copilot episode, and 404 Media’s reporting on contractors at other AI companies like OpenAI, is that the content humans are reviewing are prompts and uploads that chatbot users may assume are private, and that the contractors are not looking at this material to train the models to filter out offensive images or for some other safety concern.

2026-09-28 · assertive framing · Humans Are Reading Copilot Prompts — And They're Horrified

🔮 And the ALPR Hostlist Management Audit report details changes made to alerts the agency may receive.

2026-09-21 · assertive framing · Is Your City Using Axon License Plate Cameras? We Need Your Help

🔮 Georgia State University has rescinded a job offer given to a high profile activist who is currently fighting a case in which he allegedly wiped a security-focused Android phone before Customs and Border Protection (CBP) could search it.

2026-09-17 · assertive framing · University Rescinds Job Offer to Activist Who Allegedly Wiped Phone Before DHS Could Search It

Also by Joseph Cox

Proton’s CEO Cancels AI ‘Re-Interviews’

2026-10-30 · 404 Media

Podcast: Flock CEO Says the Backlash Isn’t Real

2026-10-29 · 404 Media

Manifestos, Fear, and ‘Loser Thinking’: Inside Proton’s AI Reckoning

2026-10-29 · 404 Media

Here’s What Telegram Giving Data to the U.S. Government Looks Like

2026-10-16 · 404 Media

Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

All 28 articles by Joseph Cox →

In an August 26 webinar that was hosted on Axon’s official Vimeo page called “From backlash to trust,” Axon Chief Customer Officer Mike Wagers took a question from the remote audience and asked, “is there any talk — and there has been talk — to redesign Outpost, our fixed ALPR camera, to not look exactly like a Flock camera?”

framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-03

🔮 The comments highlight how Axon is trying to take advantage of sustained opposition against Flock's license plate cameras, with one law enforcement customer suggesting a camera redesign would “help with the optics while we batten down the hatches” as the backlash spreads.

2026-09-03 · 404 Media

Cops Are Asking Axon to Make Their Cameras Look Different From Flock So People Don't Destroy Them · assertive framing

Axon says cops are asking it to make its automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) look different from Flock cameras because Flock vandalism has become so widespread, according to comments Axon’s CEO made in a now deleted webinar. uncertain

CEO → say → webinar

The comments highlight how Axon is trying to take advantage of sustained opposition against Flock's license plate cameras, with one law enforcement customer suggesting a camera redesign would “help with the optics while we batten down the hatches” as the backlash spreads. asserted

backlash → highlight → hatches

As 404 Media has reported, some towns and cities are switching from Flock to Axon’s cameras after cops did lookups for ICE in Flock, tracked a woman who self-administered an abortion, and have repeatedly abused their access to stalk ex-spouses. asserted

who → report → spouses

ALPRs constantly scan the license plate, brand, model, and other identifying features of all vehicles that drive past the camera and then make this timestamped log of activity searchable by law enforcement without a warrant. asserted

log → scan → warrant

Wagers → host → camera

“We are looking at [...] do we change the general shape,” Rick Smith, Axon’s CEO, replied. asserted

Smith → look → shape

At another point in the webinar, Smith brought up Axon’s Lightpost product, which is an ALPR and AI-powered camera that attaches to an existing streetlight. asserted

that → bring → streetlight

“Frankly, we’ve had a lot of customers saying, hey, we’d like something that looks different because there is all this blowback. asserted

that → have → something

It's harder to vandalize because it's up higher,” he said. asserted

he → vandalize → ?

Smith also said, “We’ve had some people say they’d like to see us make just a different camera, because our ALPR camera looks like an ALPR camera.” asserted

camera → say → camera

Another idea Smith brought up, pending customer feedback, is to go in the other direction and make ALPRs more explicit, with signs showing where they are located and a description of the city’s ALPR policies. asserted

they → bring → policies

MegaraMedia, a YouTuber, downloaded a copy of the webinar before it was removed and shared it with 404 Media. asserted

it → download → Media

During the webinar, Axon asked its law enforcement customers to chime in with questions and answer a customer survey. asserted

Axon → ask → survey

404 Media scanned the QR code displayed during the webinar to view those questions. asserted

Media → scan → questions

One, which appears to be the one Wagers paraphrased, read, “Is there any talk to redesign the Outpost to not look exactly like the Flock camera — I think it will help agencies with the optics while we batten down the hatches…” asserted

we → appear → hatches

Axon did not respond to a request for comment. asserted

Axon → respond → comment

Around the country people have destroyed Flock cameras, including tearing them down, backing trucks into them, or spray painting over their lenses. asserted

people → destroy → lenses

Authorities have arrested and charged multiple people in connection with that vandalism. asserted

Authorities → arrest → vandalism

In one case, a cop made a fake, 3D-printed Flock camera to essentially act as bait; authorities then charged a man who broke the fake camera with three felonies. asserted

who → make → felonies

One explicit reason some cities have ditched Flock for Axon is Flock’s national network. asserted

cities → ditch → Axon

This allows a cop on one side of the country to search cameras not only in their own jurisdiction or state, but in another state entirely. asserted

cop → allow → state

When reporting on how local cops were performing Flock lookups for ICE, 404 Media found that some police departments did not know or understand their cameras were accessible by other agencies. asserted

cameras → report → agencies

Smith said of the backlash against Flock and ALPR more generally: “This has been a hell of a storm.” asserted

This → say → storm

Cops Are Asking Axon to Make Their Cameras Look Different From Flock So People Don't Destroy Them

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