Posted on 08/20/2026 3:31:52 PM PDT by Miami Rebel
A man dressed as the iconic “Star Wars” villain Darth Vader on Wednesday appeared to defend the use of Flock cameras before the San Diego City Council, assuring that “this is what the emperor needs.”
The man approached the podium to address the Public Safety and Livable Neighborhoods Committee meeting, with the character’s signature breathing audible to the council chamber’s microphone. The council addressed him as “Darth Vader.”
“This is what the emperor needs. This technology will help us find the rebel scum and the hidden base on Hoth,” the man said, referring to the ice planet from “The Empire Strikes Back.”
He urged that the cameras be used to surveil any “rebel scum as they move from playground to playground, from playground to pool, from pool to gymnasium, because we all know that the Flock cameras are not only following the license plate readers, they are following children.”
The plea for the cameras shifted to raising taxes to clear out storm drains and to the clearing of homeless encampments in the city. The man said the council members can use “doublespeak” to say the police department is humanitarian.
“And how will the people trust this City Council when this City Council continues to vote for surveillance technology that imprisons them? Ms. Campbell, you must work on your Jedi mind tricks,” he said, addressing City Council member Jennifer Campbell, before waving his hand to the audience. “Do it like this.”
His last plea was for the Flock cameras to be used to “help us find Luke Skywalker as he traverses the universe in his X-wing.”
“This technology is a necessary, necessary force,” he concluded.
Late last year, San Diego officials signed a yearlong deal to provide the San Diego Police Department with access to “open source intelligence” and data from other law enforcement agencies, Axios reported in April.
San Diego has more than 550 Flock cameras across the city, according to the Flock tracking map DeFlock.
Flock provides a system of license plate readers, video cameras and audio detection devices to record license plate numbers with the vehicle information, down to the make and model of a vehicle and even bumper stickers.
Axios reported this week that local activists and some city officials have called for alternatives, joining others across the country who have criticized the use of the cameras as backlash mounts. Critics have raised the cameras’ implications when it comes to mass surveillance and possible misuse by law enforcement.
Flock announced that it made changes to its privacy and data retention policies, saying it will shorten the recommended default data retention window from 30 to seven days to cut the amount of time data will sit in Flock’s systems. Law enforcement will have a case code to search Flock data.
The American Civil Liberties Union, one of the company’s primary critics that has several pending cases against Flock, called the changes a “thinly-veiled PR attempt.”
In both case, there is a populist pushback. Data centers are anathema in many counties throughout the country. Even Mike Rogers has called for a one year moratorium. Flock as an issue has less visible nationally but where it's been implemented it's faced fever-hot resistance.
You may be surprised.
Fock Fluck Cameras! After the American taxpayer financed, Chinese made, WuFlu scamdemic, the unibrow Empire can’t be trusted.
It’s a decent winning issue to go against spying on Americans. People don’t want flock cameras
They don’t want their cars spying on them and sending the data to insurance companies either
As far as Data centers go, the country is 50% unoccupied , im sure they can find places to put these buildings where no one would even see them
I have seen many lame threads on FR over the years, but this one has hit rock bottom. A star wars character? What the heck?
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I am against intrusive technology like Flock cameras and all the other may ones, but but this is a joke.
There is one in my extended neighborhood and it is exactly where I would have put it: facing the rent subsidized apartment building (AKA insta-slum) that the Biden administration leaned on my city to build.
The American Civil Liberties Union, one of the company’s primary critics that has several pending cases against Flock
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Is this is the same ACLU that was AWOL during the Covid shutdowns? I guess they’ve awoken from their slumber.
Consider Victor Sheymov who entered Eighth KGB Directorate in 1971. When he escaped U.S.S.R. in 1980, he directed KGB cipher communications worldwide, and as such was the highest-ranking intelligence official to defect.
Victor’s first obstacle for executing escape plans was contacting a KIO. He circumvented multi-level surveillance preventing foreign contacts. KGB tactics included agents posing as foreigners, permanent listening and optical devises in restaurants and hotels, and stationary surveillance by Seventh Directorate “traffic officers” or agents in covert stations with powerful optics.
Such elaborate, labor-intensive methods proved effective because U.S.S.R. restricted foreigner’s travels. Those from NATO countries received special attention, and qualified for up to sixteen surveillance teams, and for planted vehicle homing devices. Restricted travel meant direction-monitoring towers provided real time vehicle locations.
Just because you are not paranoid, doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you. Victor escaped the Soviet Union, but where do we go?
In before the FLOCK APOLOGISTS telling us that Flocks are no different than cell phones. Several times I’ve asked them to tell me a practical and legal way to buy a quart of milk with triggering one or more of the Flocks in my neighborhood and being entered into a national database. Obviously, I could leave my cell phone at home, if I wanted...I want to hear their practical and legal solution to avoiding Flocks.
...and NO, they have NEVER tried to respond, not even admitting that there’s a HUGE DIFFERENCE...and that makes me wonder just who do they really work for?
“Victor escaped the Soviet Union, but where do we go?”
Most likely got swept up in Flock surveillance, entered into the national database, and got caught when one of Putin’s friends tapped in and THAT WAS IT - he’s dead.
Good post. Very informative.
After extensive work for the CIA, he founded a successful cybersecurity firm. He died in 2019.
“He died in 2019.”
Just as the deployment of Flocks was starting - thanks for confirming!
I’m trying to understand this new Flock craze... Haven’t traffic cameras been out for like 20 years or more? Why ios it now getting everyone’s panties in a twist??
The reason why many in America are ok with third trimester abortions is because they got comfy with killing the unborn at 12 weeks.
Many Americans are ok with a 30%+ marginal income tax rate because their forefathers cheered on the 16th Amendment.
A lotta people were ok with the OSHA Covid vaxx mandate for adults because they gave a cheery two-thumbs up to mandatory vaccines for public school students a while ago.
Some folks are cool with killing grandma/euthanasia today because they smiled on Dr. Kevorkian/“it’s my life and I can end it if I want” yesterday.
Lotsa people approve of “assault weapons bans” because folks approved restricting blacks’ ownership of guns years ago.
As such, everyone’s panties are in a twist over Flock today because they’re realizing they should have objected to traffic cameras 20 years ago.
A beautiful appeal to absurdity. Nicely done.
CC
“As such, everyone’s panties are in a twist over Flock today because they’re realizing they should have objected to traffic cameras 20 years ago.”
Good examples, but cameras do have uses that don’t involve sticking innocent people into national databases with no controls on who has access. These include traffic cameras and cameras controlling traffic lights. By the logic of the Flock Apologists, they should be JUST FINE if their driving history is posted on the Internet, for all to see...and then let’s see what the support level for Flock is.
We should ask the Flock apologists “when are you removing the curtains and shades from your windows?”
Thank you!
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