"Flock is working in partnership with Palantir. Palantir is funded by Peter Thiel. He is one of the richest men alive. Palantir is named after the evil all-seeing eye in Lord of the Rings. Palantir has been used to track, surveil, and murder people over seas. That same technology is being used with Flock safety to funnel all of our data into a system that knows everything about you."

A crowd of people showed up last night to oppose Flock safety drones Oakland County, MI BOC Meeting 4/8/26

FULL STORY: A crowd of people showed up last night to oppose Flock safety drones, and the board treated us as a nuisance and a problem to be solved. After starting the meeting almost an hour late, the board voted to move all public comment to the end of the meeting and proceeded to vote to approve Flock Drones without listening to a single word from any us. This footage was captured during a break right before they voted. They didn't just ignore us, they sneered and laughed at our outrage over their abuse of power. The drones were approved by chairman David Woodward (D), Penny Luebs (D), Michael Spisz (R), Michael Gingell (R), Bob Hoffman (R), Karen Joliat (R), Christine Long (R), Philip Weipert (R), Robert Smiley (R), William Miller (D), Linnie Taylor (D), and, absent from the meeting, Brendan Johnson (D), Marcia Gershenson (D), Angela Powell (D), Gwen Markham (D), and Yolanda Smith Charles (D). They are ALL up for reelection in November, but some may run unopposed.

A packed house of residents showed up at Wednesday night’s Oakland County Board of Commissioners meeting to fight against a new pilot program for Flock Safety drones. The atmosphere turned incredibly tense when the board decided to hold the vote before allowing public comment, leading to hours of boos and shouting from the crowd. Critics at the meeting argued that the drones represent a massive overreach of government surveillance, raising major red flags about Fourth Amendment rights and how personal data will be stored or shared with federal agencies.

Despite the heavy opposition, the board voted 13-4 to move forward with a nine-month trial called "Project Prove It." The Sheriff’s Office says these seven drones will only respond to specific 911 calls—like finding a missing child or tracking a suspect—rather than just flying around on random patrols. While the initial trial is free, the county will have to decide by mid-December whether to commit to a $2.5 million, two-year contract. To address some of the privacy fears, officials promised a public dashboard where anyone can go online to see where the drones have flown and why.

A commenter added:

"What's crazy is they've been popping up all over the place where new neighborhoods are being built. Have been taking a backroad route to occasionally feed my friends' cats or go into town & have notice 5 along the route that have popped up over the last 3 months. These are not major roads or highways, just areas that are under residential development."