A man dressed as “Star Wars” villain Darth Vader spoke up at a California city council meeting on the decision to acquire Flock cameras.
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The meeting took place in San Diego on Thursday at a city council meeting on public safety.
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What we know:
During the public comments portion of the meeting, a man dressed in full costume, wearing a dark helmet, mask, chest plate and complete with the black cloak, stepped up to the podium when his name, “Darth Vader” was called and delivered a short speech, in full Darth Vader voice, on his “support” for Flock cameras.
The City of San Diego
Dig deeper:
In his speech, Vader expressed the emperor being a fan of Flock cameras as well, because the license plate readers and the necessity to surveil the rebel scum, follow children and help him stalk his ex-girlfriend.
He ends his comments by asking city officials to work on their Jedi mind tricks as he implored them to look into additional issues that plague the city.
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RELATED: Flock Safety to tighten surveillance rules, audit checks following backlash
Debate on Flock cameras
Big picture view:
Flock has been used to help find missing seniors, catch car thieves, and provide evidence in high-profile criminal cases.
One example was the fatal Brown University shooting in 2025.
The other side:
Despite its successes, more than 50 agencies or jurisdictions have canceled, suspended or rejected a contract or deactivated their cameras since the beginning of the year, according to a tracker maintained by DeFlock, a grassroots group formed to track the use of license plate reader technology and push back against it. Cameras around the country have also been vandalized.
Abuses have also drawn widespread attention. The Washington Post reported earlier this month finding nearly 50 instances of police officers charged or accused of using the cameras for unauthorized purposes, many for tracking current or former romantic partners or family members.
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