The Advocate

San Leandro currently has 41 Flock "safety" cameras in use around the city. They're meant to help law enforcement catch criminals and stop crimes before they happen. But, like so many well-intended efforts to expand policing, this one presents more dangers and failures than it does results. Indeed, that is the problem with mass surveillance and has been since at least 2001. Recently, the city sought a no-bid contract to expand to 82 Flock cameras throughout the city at the cost of over $1,000,000 without even a policy in place regarding their use or data to support it. However, a group of local leaders came together and were able to successfully advocate for the city council to wait and learn more before taking further action. Why, might you ask? Well, let's break it down for everyone. The ACLU has released a comprehensive report on the multiple problems with these types of AI-driven mass surveillance systems, from improper retention and sharing of data to the incre