Investigating Flock

How law enforcement is using ALPR cameras to surveil Spokane County more than ever.

Nearly 100 surveillance cameras from the technology company Flock Safety watch major roads across Spokane County, capturing photos of every single vehicle that drives past and tracking the movements of everyday people. Spokane County is not alone: as many as 80 cities across Washington have these cameras.

Flock cameras are always on, recording license plates and other details of everyone who passes by all day, every day and those details go into a networked, searchable database. This omnipresence represents a quantum leap in the surveillance power available to governments of all sizes to track their citizens regardless of where they are.

We spent more than five months digging into the impacts of this network on our community in the Inland Northwest.

The basics on Flock

The State of Surveillance in Spokane – RANGE Media

As officials prepare more Flock cameras to roll out across Spokane County, here’s what you need to know.

RANGE MediaErin Sellers

Immigration searches

‘Alien.’ ‘Ice pick-up.’ ‘immigration violation.’ – RANGE Media

More than 1,000 immigration searches were made on Spokane County Flock cameras this year.

RANGE MediaErin Sellers

Protest searches

Protested this year? Cops might’ve looked for you on Flock cams. – RANGE Media

Newly obtained records show that the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office made 24 searches across thousands of cameras for cars at protests.

RANGE MediaErin Sellers

Abortion searches

Texas deputy searched Spokane County Flock cameras for a woman who had an abortion– RANGE Media

Amidst nationwide and state scrutiny of the cameras, Spokane County’s Flock network was used by an out-of-state cop looking for a woman who had an abortion.

RANGE MediaErin Sellers

Weird searches

‘Operation Pimp Juice,’ ‘Serial Beer Thief,’ and Grand Theft Excavator – RANGE Media

Some of the other weird sh*t local officers and agencies nationwide were searching for using Spokane County Flock cameras.

RANGE MediaErin Sellers

Why we're investigating Flock

Watching the watchmen – RANGE Media

An editor’s note on a deeply-reported series on the Flock cameras tracking your movements.

RANGE MediaLuke Baumgarten

What we can do

Flock-enheit 451 – RANGE Media

COLUMN: Why Flock cameras have no place in a free society and what you can do about it

RANGE MediaLauren Pangborn

Happy holidays! Here’s all our Flock data – RANGE Media

Our gift to you: big ’ol .csv files, a public records request guide and behind-the-scenes info from our investigative series on Flock cameras.

RANGE MediaErin Sellers

Washington may regulate Flock in next legislative session – RANGE Media

Amid a nationwide backlash over privacy concerns, state legislators are looking to clamp down on data retention for automated license plate reader cameras.

RANGE MediaAaron Hedge

Podcasts on Flock

The POD: Diving Back Into Flock – RANGE Media

Plus, an update on the trials of Spokane protestors.

RANGE MediaRANGE

The POD: All the FLOCK things – RANGE Media

Erin and Val talk about Automated License Plate Readers, aka FLOCK cameras, in Spokane County and nationwide.

RANGE MediaRANGE

How Flock could be regulated

Washington scrambles to regulate license-plate cameras that could aid stalkers – RANGE Media

As lawmakers debate how to rein in these cameras, sheriffs, civil rights groups and transparency advocates are clashing over how much access is too much

RANGE MediaDaniel Walters, InvestigateWest