Trump Backs Flock Safety as Lawmakers Target Vehicle Surveillance

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s endorsement of Flock Safety’s automated license-plate reading technology has intensified political friction around a bipartisan push in Congress and state capitals to restrict AI-powered surveillance networks.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday during his return flight from Ireland to Joint Base Andrews, Trump said he supported automated license-plate readers because law enforcement agencies credit them with aiding criminal investigations. “Yeah, I sort of like them because of that, because of law enforcement,” Trump said.

The Atlanta-based company has installed more than 120,000 solar-powered cameras in more than 6,000 communities. Its cameras operate continuously on public streets and highways, scanning and logging approximately 20 billion vehicle captures each month.

Trump acknowledged the privacy debate surrounding the cameras, saying that “some people” consider the systems “an infringement” on civil liberties. When a reporter pointed out that Flock’s network “helps catch a lot of criminals,” Trump replied, “I like them.”

Flock Safety was founded in 2017 by Chief Executive Officer Garrett Langley and has grown rapidly across the United States. Its technology records more than standard license plate numbers, using computer vision algorithms to create searchable digital profiles containing a vehicle’s make, model, color, state registration, and physical features such as bumper stickers, roof racks, decals, and body damage.

Trump’s comments were his clearest public position to date on automated license-plate readers, or ALPRs. In August, when asked about Flock Safety, he said his administration was still evaluating the technology and weighing its “pros and cons.”

The company’s network has drawn scrutiny from both conservative and progressive lawmakers. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, opened a formal investigation in late August into Flock Safety’s data collection and retention practices. Hawley gave the company a Sept. 8 deadline to provide internal documents, then expanded the inquiry to rival surveillance vendors Motorola Solutions, Verkada, and Axon.

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., a leading member of the Congressional Fourth Amendment Caucus, is drafting legislation that would withhold federal grant funding from state and local law enforcement agencies using automated license-plate reader networks. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has separately pledged legislation intended to curb widespread automated vehicle surveillance.

At the state level, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered state agencies in late August to stop funding Flock Safety cameras. Earlier in the summer, the Los Angeles Police Department suspended its Flock contract after internal audits and public concerns about cross-jurisdictional data sharing and platform security.

Privacy concerns grew after a report described Flock’s internal investigative tools. A software system originally called “Nightshift” and later renamed “Flock OS Investigate” includes an artificial intelligence tool with 69 preset search prompts. Officers can use it to search for and trace vehicle movements based on travel patterns without entering a license plate number or owner name.

The software also has an “associates” feature that examines camera logs for other vehicles passing the same cameras within a two-minute window. That function can map potential travel companions or groups.

Legal scholars and civil liberties advocates have raised Fourth Amendment concerns about interconnected ALPR networks. The amendment protects against unreasonable searches and seizures, while critics say real-time and historical vehicle tracking can enable government agencies to build detailed profiles of people’s private lives, political activities, and personal routines.

Legal challenges to mass surveillance networks often cite the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in *Carpenter v. United States*. In the 5-4 ruling, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that the government’s acquisition of historical cell-site location information, or CSLI, mapping a person’s physical movements over time constitutes a search requiring a warrant under the Fourth Amendment. Privacy advocates say camera networks that sweep public roads create a similar risk of continuous, warrantless location tracking.

Trump’s support for Flock Safety places him at odds with high-profile Republicans and Democrats pursuing limits on the technology. During the same Sunday in-flight press conference, he also rejected calls for broader federal restrictions on artificial intelligence development.

His comments followed an essay by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei urging the technology sector to slow deployment of advanced AI models while safety frameworks mature. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman made similar calls for a measured development pace. The executive warnings contributed to a sharp sell-off in technology stocks at the opening of Monday’s trading session.

Trump dismissed calls for federal AI regulatory limits. “I’m not downplaying,” he told reporters, “but it’s going to be more good than bad, but by a lot.” He framed the issue around international competition, saying, “Whoever wins AI, wins.” Trump described warnings about the dangers of uncontrolled AI as coming from “negative forces” concerned about outcomes that “won’t happen.”

During the flight, Trump also confirmed that he personally uses artificial intelligence tools, although he did not identify the applications or services he employs.