Flock Safety trains police to monitor ‘No Kings’ protests using real-time video tools
Flock Safety held a webinar where director Caity Peak demonstrated how law-enforcement officers can use the company’s FlockOS system to surveil “No Kings” demonstrations, citing a mock scenario in Denver.
Flock Safety, a supplier of municipal surveillance technology, conducted a November webinar in which Caity Peak, its director of market management, instructed law-enforcement officials on using the company’s FlockOS Real-Time Crime Center to monitor “No Kings” protests. Peak walked attendees through a hypothetical Denver demonstration, explaining how officers could view live video, anticipate crowd dynamics, and coordinate response plans.
The firm’s tools, including automated license-plate readers, have been deployed by police and border-patrol units to follow protestors at No Kings rallies held in June and October, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The EFF identified more than 50 cases where agencies accessed Flock’s data servers to search for protest-related activity and specific activist groups. No Kings protests, which began during the second Trump administration, are described as largely peaceful gatherings of older liberal demonstrators, yet the training suggests authorities are preparing to intensify surveillance of such events. Critics warn the effort could expand state monitoring of constitutionally protected assembly.
Why it matters
It reveals how commercial surveillance tools are being taught to police to track peaceful protests, raising civil-liberty concerns.
How the sides frame it
LOW AGREEMENTLeft-leaning coverage frames the story as a surveillance-technology training that raises civil-liberties concerns, citing the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s findings, while right-leaning coverage frames the protests as driven by a “hard-left” network linked to anti-AI data-center activism and foreign-funded groups.
LEFT
Left-leaning coverage presents the webinar as a tool for police to monitor protests and highlights civil-rights watchdog data on extensive use of the technology.
RIGHT
Right-leaning coverage portrays the protests as orchestrated by a hard-left network connected to anti-AI data-center campaigns and foreign-funded organizations.
The left emphasises
- monitor ‘No Kings’ protests using real-time video tools
- tools deployed by police and border-patrol units to follow protestors
- EFF identified more than 50 cases where agencies accessed Flock’s data servers
The right emphasises
- hard-left network behind “No Kings” protests
- leading the battle against data centers and Flock cameras
- organizations funded by pro-China tech tycoon Neville Roy Singham
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