Flock Security And Surveillance in OR

 Flock Cameras And Surveillance State. 

By Ashlie Slocum

 

Introduction:

As I've stated previously I've attended multiple flock surveillance meetings locally in Eugene, Albany and Portland. I feel very strongly about the subject and evidence to support my claims. This centers our government as the protagonist and aggressor. As we know the state of Oregon has something called “sanctuary laws”. A quote from the official Oregon DOJ website: 

“ Oregon was the first state in the nation to pass a statewide law stopping state and local police and government from helping federal authorities with immigration enforcement. In the ensuing decades, the law was updated several times.” 

This means we pay extra taxes to have less immigration and customs enforcement and border patrol active in our state. We choose to allocate money that we could put toward cooperating with violent operations and put it into other areas of improvement towards our community (although I have separate opinions on how that money is actually utilized but I'll spare you political rant). 

How flock cameras are weaponized against minority groups:

First and foremost, I would like to cite an interview that I actually conducted during a flock security meeting in Albany, Oregon. This person whom I was interviewing was a representative of flock security that was sent to Albany to conduct a civil meeting at our local commissioners office. I will link citations and the actual interview below. However, I will be quoting what was said in that interview. When questioned about where the data is actually stored and how it's stored, she mentioned it's used for AI databases and training. When further questioned on this, on how AI stores the data, when it's used for training and if it's deleted, she blatantly disregarded my question and wouldn't give me an answer until I asked numerous times. This was related to the fact that their policy states that they delete data after 30 days of all citizens and public relations. However, we have no proof that it's not being stored differently in AI if they're using it to train it. She stated that she “ couldn't answer that question” when asked if she didn't know or if she just couldn't answer it, she had no comment. This 30-day data deletion is not only a policy of the company but also in Bill 1516 relating to Oregon's public surveillance policies signed in by Governor Tina Kotek. 

Flock lawsuits in Oregon:

Flock security as a company has already been sued for selling data to third-party companies which was also mentioned when interviewing the representative for flock security. OPB recently also published an investigative journalism article in which they cite a lawsuit with OSP ( Oregon State Police department) in which they're being sued by a non-profit for their use and collaboration with ICE and flock security to illegally deport our Hispanic population. In this meeting which is also recorded in my personal interview the police department and city representatives attempted to console us by mentioning that they would be being audited once a month by OSP to make sure that they're following the correct guidelines and not violating our sanctuary laws. However, I find that very disrespectful considering these recent lawsuits with OSP for violating our sanctuary laws and frankly doesn't offer me any condolences. 

These officers are continuously not held accountable, unnamed and protected. I have absolutely no faith in our local or state government to not abuse this power of surveillance and use it for nefarious purposes and to work for third party government operatives that have been known to do illegal operations. If you want me to be very blatantly honest, it seems a lot like a coup to me.

The effect on local communities: 

Firstly, it was not just me at that meeting. City representatives multiple times commented on how they've never seen such a turnout to a city council commissioner meeting. This is a small town where not many people pay attention to local politics. I've interviewed civil rights lawyers. I've interviewed immigration, lawyers, protesters, etc. And I can say without a shadow of a doubt that this is directly harmful to our community. Not in just the way that these are violent operations that they're carrying out, The majority of them are unlawful and have been sued multiple times by our state government. I'll also cite my own articles below, but I do not think that you need much evidence to support the claim that ICE is damaging our communities. From tear gassing Portland's neighborhoods so badly that the complex actually sued them, or the five different shootings in Portland related to immigration protests. Citizens and even immigration lawyers say that even legal citizens are scared and are hiding. It's affecting our economy without the work and spending habits of these hard-working immigrants. I even once had an immigration lawyer tell me that multiple of his clients were considering shutting down their businesses because they weren't receiving the same amount of Mexican foot traffic as they normally would, therefore crushing their small businesses. I have seen ICE tear gas children, and I've dragged civilians, not protesters, to medical tents to receive help from ICE. If our city continuously votes to fund and contribute to these illegal investigations, I think that is a sign that they are no longer fit for our government and that they are no longer representative of the people. 

Citations

https://www.doj.state.or.us/oregon-department-of-justice/civil-rights/sanctuary-promise/

https://www.opb.org/article/2026/04/23/new-oregon-law-regulates-use-license-plate-readers/

https://ghxxstgirlls.blogspot.com/2026/03/protests-in-portland-relating-to-u.html?m=1

https://recorder.google.com/ace2

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