AUTONEWS

Darth Vader crashes city council meeting to endorse flock surveillance

Municipal public comment periods are usually home to standard local grievances, but a recent San Diego City Council meeting received an Imperial visit when Darth Vader stepped up to endorse Flock cameras and automated surveillance technology.

During a meeting of the city’s Public Safety and Livable Neighborhoods Committee, an unidentified individual wearing a somewhat ill-fitting Darth Vader costume took to the stand, complete with mechanical breathing echoing over the mic (sounding less menacing than pervy). Standing before local officials, the cosplayer delivered a satirical speech in support of San Diego's expanding network of Flock Safety cameras.

Addressing the committee in full character, the speaker announced that the Dark Side was fully aligned with the city's tech-driven law enforcement efforts. "The Emperor is a fan of Flock, and we must continue utilizing Flock technologies so that we can follow and surveil the rebel scum," he told council members, adding that the expanded automated license plate reader system would help the Empire locate Luke Skywalker in his X-Wing and reveal the rebels' hidden base on the icy planet Hoth.

The masked orator also used dark (Force) humor to spotlight pressing civil liberties concerns surrounding license-plate tracking and dragnet monitoring. Pointing out that cameras capture movement near public parks, pools, and schools, the speaker mockingly praised the tech for tracking children and sarcastically noted it would help him "stalk my ex-girlfriend," a jab at reported cases where law enforcement officers misused surveillance databases for personal tracking.

The Dark Lord didn't stop at cameras. He turned his attention to city policies regarding public encampments and municipal spending, sarcastically arguing that tax dollars were far better spent on "surveillance technology that imprisons" people than on libraries, daycare centers, or homeless shelters. He urged the council members to perform "Jedi mind tricks" and double-speak on the public to convince residents that invasive monitoring was ultimately for their own good, dramatically waving a gloved hand toward the audience.

Indeed, California is no stranger to unique performances like this one, but this particular appearance brought a theatrical twist to a heated civic debate. The city currently utilizes over 550 Flock Safety cameras, drawing intense pushback from privacy advocates, and civil rights groups.

A man dressed as Darth Vader appeared to poke fun at San Diego officials for using Flock Safety automated license plate readers at a city council meeting this week, a stunt that comes as the company faces growing backlash linked to spying concerns.

The man, whose real identity remains unknown, masqueraded on Thursday as the Star Wars villain at a San Diego public safety committee meeting.

“The emperor is a fan of Flock,” the man said, though he proceeded to portray the surveillance hardware in an ominous light.

“We must continue utilizing Flock technologies so that we can follow and surveil the rebel scum as they move from playground to playground, from playground to pool, from pool to gymnasium,” he continued.

The man also said the cameras could be employed for nefarious purposes such as tracking children and stalking a former romantic partner. (A Louisiana sheriff’s deputy was fired recently for using Flock’s system to track his ex-fiancee’s car more than 3,000 times, Guardian reporting partner WWL Louisiana reported).

Flock Safety, an Atlanta-based company, touts its technology as an aid to law enforcement, highlighting achievements on its website such as tracking missing people and recovering stolen vehicles.

San Diego city council members voted in December to continue using Flock’s camera system.

Recent blunders, however, have cast scrutiny on the technology.

In San Diego, a man spent a month behind bars after a Flock license plate reader falsely linked him to an attempted violent carjacking, according to the Times of San Diego.

As of August 2026, about 100 municipalities have deactivated, canceled or rejected contracts with Flock, according to the grassroots group DeFlock.

Some critics have taken matters into their own hands, undergoing vigilante-esque missions to dismantle or destroy the cameras. An Ohio man was arrested for allegedly damaging a Flock camera, but a grand jury recently declined to indict him on felony vandalism charges.

In August, Flock announced new policies aimed at curbing misuse of its system, including a mandate for law enforcement agencies to adopt an audit assistance feature in its system by the end of the year, although some legal experts described the accountability measures as insufficient.