# Flock cameras

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "Flock cameras," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/flock-cameras/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*Automated licence-plate reading cameras mounted on police vehicles and on poles disguised as utility poles. John Kiriakou describes them as blanket, constant surveillance and a direct assault on civil liberties, more dangerous than the public realises, and says they are the point at which Edward Snowden's predictions have already come true.*

- **What they are:** Licence-plate readers, mounted on police cars or on poles resembling telephone poles
- **Kiriakou's assessment:** "A direct assault on our civil liberties"
- **Character:** Blanket surveillance, constant surveillance
- **Personal experience:** Repeatedly stopped at 15th and Constitution Avenue, a block from the White House, over one plate he once reported stolen
- **On [Snowden](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/edward-snowden)'s predictions:** "They've already come true"

**Flock cameras** are automated licence-plate readers. Asked about them directly, [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) describes the hardware plainly: *"it's like a let's say like a license plate reader,"* sometimes mounted on the back of police cars, sometimes on poles that are made to look like telephone poles.[1]

## The camera behind the White House

His own encounter with the system is routine and unresolved. One reader in particular, at 15th and Constitution Avenue, a block from the White House, stops him *"all the freaking time"*, because he once reported a licence plate stolen. Not both plates, he notes, just one; and every time he is pulled over he asks the officers when they are going to get their act together.[2]

## The civil liberties objection

Kiriakou's verdict is unqualified: *"I think Flock cameras are a direct assault on our civil liberties. Seriously. I think they're far more dangerous than people realize because they're blanket surveillance, constant surveillance."* The harm he identifies is not the individual stop but the continuous positional record, *"The authorities know where we are at any given time of the day. I mean, maybe we're going to the dry cleaners or going to the grocery stores or going to a clandestine meeting. You never know. But they're on us."*[3]

Asked whether [Edward Snowden](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/edward-snowden)'s predictions are coming true, he answers that the tense is wrong: *"They've already come true. Yes."* He adds that what makes it dangerous is the absence of any political constituency against it, *"nobody on Capitol Hill cares. It's just not important enough."*[4]

## See also

- [Mass Surveillance](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/mass-surveillance)
- [Edward Snowden](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/edward-snowden)
- [NSA Surveillance](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/nsa-surveillance)

## Sources

1. "Are You a CIA Plant?!" | John Kiriakou Answers Most Asked Fan Questions! (2026-08-01), at 10:26. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-J7znGcmKMg&t=626s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-08-01-john-kiriakou-are-you-a-cia-plant-john-kiriakou-answers-mos/
2. "Are You a CIA Plant?!" | John Kiriakou Answers Most Asked Fan Questions! (2026-08-01), at 10:57. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-J7znGcmKMg&t=657s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-08-01-john-kiriakou-are-you-a-cia-plant-john-kiriakou-answers-mos/
3. "Are You a CIA Plant?!" | John Kiriakou Answers Most Asked Fan Questions! (2026-08-01), at 11:27. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-J7znGcmKMg&t=687s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-08-01-john-kiriakou-are-you-a-cia-plant-john-kiriakou-answers-mos/
4. "Are You a CIA Plant?!" | John Kiriakou Answers Most Asked Fan Questions! (2026-08-01), at 11:59. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-J7znGcmKMg&t=719s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-08-01-john-kiriakou-are-you-a-cia-plant-john-kiriakou-answers-mos/

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From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/flock-cameras/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt