Nassau County has one of the highest densities of surveillance cameras in the US, with a Flock Safety camera installed roughly every 9.5 miles.
What happened
According to data compiled by activist group DeFlock, Nassau County has over 330 Flock Safety cameras installed on more than 3,200 miles of road. This places the county within the top 100 in the country for cameras per mile, with approximately 105 cameras for every 1,000 miles of road.
The high density of cameras in Nassau County means that residents are among the most heavily surveilled in the nation, with the county ranking in the top 3% of most closely watched drivers in America.
Flock Safety cameras use AI to scan and store information on every car that passes, including license plates and distinct features like dents and bumper stickers. This data is then made available to law enforcement agencies around the country, allowing them to track a vehicle's movements.
Neighboring Suffolk County has a lower density of cameras, with around one camera for every 33 miles of road. However, the county is considering a deal with Flock Safety to install more cameras, despite controversy surrounding the company's surveillance system.
The use of Flock Safety cameras has sparked nationwide protests and calls for regulation, with some lawmakers proposing to ban the technology outright or strip federal funding from local departments that deploy it.
