An Atlanta investigative reporter who tried to film a Flock Safety camera being installed on a public road ended up being pulled over by three police cars after the installer called 911 and said he was being followed and harassed.
Atlanta News First Chief Investigator Brendan Keefe reported that he had been documenting the installation of one of Flock’s automated license plate readers in suburban Georgia when the worker packed up his equipment, drove away and later called police.
Keefe followed several cars behind because he wanted to see where the installer would stop next so he could continue recording the installation process.
Minutes later, police in Milton pulled him over.
“I’m a member of the press,” Keefe told Officer Smith. “I was following at a distance because I’m documenting them putting up Flock cameras. I’m an investigative reporter.”
The encounter added another layer to the growing debate over Flock’s nationwide surveillance network, because the company’s cameras are designed to record vehicles moving through public spaces while one of its own installers became alarmed when a reporter recorded and followed him in public.
The Installer Calls 911
Keefe said the incident began after a family member noticed that a nearby Flock camera was being upgraded.
He drove to the site, parked at a distance, displayed a press placard in his vehicle, put on a yellow safety vest and took out a professional news camera.
According to Keefe, the installer saw him and quickly put away his ladder before leaving.
Keefe then followed from a distance, several vehicles behind.
The installer called 911.
“I work with Flock Safety and I’m getting followed,” he told the dispatcher, adding that he was being “harassed” and that someone was taking photos and video of him.
The worker avoided giving his full name over the call because he said he did not want it appearing publicly if the audio was later obtained.
That concern eventually became one of the central ironies in Keefe’s report.
Flock’s technology routinely records license plates and vehicle movements in public, yet the installer appeared uncomfortable with being identified while working in a public place himself.
Police Said The Reporter Was Not Breaking The Law
Officer Smith told Keefe that the installer had reported being followed.
Keefe acknowledged that he had been following the vehicle but explained why.
Body-camera footage later showed the officer speaking with a supervisor and saying that Keefe had not been following closely enough to suggest stalking or reckless driving.
“He was behind him but not like right on his bumper,” the officer said, according to Keefe’s report.
She added that Keefe appeared to be following only because he wanted to film the next Flock installation.
The officer also said the installer was worried about appearing in the news and potentially being targeted, telling Keefe that the worker was simply an employee.
Keefe responded by pointing out the contradiction.
“So just to be clear, he’s entitled to his privacy in a public place?” he asked.
The officer said she was not making that argument, only explaining the installer’s concern.
Keefe was ultimately released without charges after roughly 17 minutes.
Keefe Says The Situation Was Hard To Ignore
Keefe said the encounter was especially notable because Flock has defended its own technology using the idea that license plates are visible in public and therefore can be recorded.
He had previously asked Flock Safety Chief Communications Officer Josh Thomas why citizens cannot opt out of having their vehicle movements captured.
Thomas argued that license plates are legally required and visible to anyone in public.
“Your license plate is part of the plain view,” Thomas said. “You can, if you want to opt out of society.”
Keefe said that position made the installer’s complaint particularly difficult to ignore.
“There is an irony here,” he said, noting that Flock installs cameras designed to track vehicle movements while one of its workers called police after being followed and filmed in public.
That does not mean the installer was wrong to feel uncomfortable. Anyone can become uneasy when they believe a vehicle is following them.
Still, the contrast is obvious when the company at the center of the incident operates a system built around continuous public observation.
It Was Not The First Similar Incident
Keefe said this was not the first time someone connected to Flock had called police on people carrying cameras.
Earlier in the summer, police in Smyrna, Georgia, responded after a Flock employee called 911 about a group of YouTube creators filming outside the company’s distribution center.
The employee told the dispatcher that three young men were recording the facility and raised the possibility several times that they might be armed, although he acknowledged that he had not actually seen weapons.
One of the people there was security researcher Benn Jordan, who had previously spoken with Atlanta News First about privacy and security issues involving Flock technology.
Jordan called the situation “absurd,” particularly because the company was objecting to people gathering information in public while operating a business centered on gathering information about the public.
The YouTubers were not charged, though they were given a trespass warning and ordered to leave the property.
Flock Says Employees Can Call Police Over Safety Concerns
Flock later told Atlanta News First that it does not object to members of the press or public photographing its cameras or workers in public spaces.
At the same time, the company said employees and contractors are instructed to prioritize their safety and may contact law enforcement if they believe they are being threatened, followed or harassed.
That explanation gives the installer’s decision more context, because the company says field workers have encountered threats and hostile rhetoric in the past.
Flock also pointed to other incidents involving threats against employees, including a case in which a California man was accused of threatening an installer with a knife and damaging a vehicle.
The company said criticism and tough questions are legitimate, but threats of violence are not.
That distinction matters, because simply filming someone in public is very different from threatening them.
In Keefe’s case, police did not charge him with any offense and even acknowledged that he had not been following closely enough to appear to be stalking the installer.
Critics Continue Questioning Flock’s Reach
The incident came as Flock faced increasing scrutiny over its expanding network of automated license plate readers.
Keefe said the company operates roughly 120,000 cameras nationwide and has faced criticism over alleged misuse, privacy concerns and the difficulty ordinary people have opting out of the system.
Some communities have canceled contracts, while others have continued expanding their camera networks.
Flock has said its growth still far outpaces cancellations.
Keefe’s reporting has focused heavily on the tension between public safety arguments and privacy concerns, including whether a private company should have such broad access to vehicle movement data that is then made available to law enforcement.
The company maintains that its cameras help solve crimes and protect communities.
Critics argue that the same technology can create a system capable of tracking people’s movements on a massive scale.
Watching The Watchers
Keefe said he later tried to attend Flock’s annual law enforcement conference, but the company told Atlanta News First that the event was for customers and was not open to the media.
Jordan also tried to attend and said his registration and hotel reservation were canceled before the event.
Flock has argued that law enforcement agencies are not its only customers in a broader sense.
Thomas previously told Keefe that he would consider the entire community the customer.
Still, the question of who gets to observe whom remains at the center of the debate.
Keefe was free to leave after police determined there was no basis to charge him, but he said the experience made the contradiction especially clear.
He had tried to watch a worker installing a system designed to watch traffic.
The worker called police because he felt watched.
And once Keefe got back on the road, he noted, his own vehicle was again being recorded by the same Flock cameras he had been trying to document.
“We tried watching the watchers,” Keefe said. “Turns out it’s a lot easier for them to watch us.”
Raised in a small Arizona town, Kevin grew up surrounded by rugged desert landscapes and a family of hunters. His background in competitive shooting and firearms training has made him an authority on self-defense and gun safety. A certified firearms instructor, Kevin teaches others how to properly handle and maintain their weapons, whether for hunting, home defense, or survival situations. His writing focuses on responsible gun ownership, marksmanship, and the role of firearms in personal preparedness.
