Rahul Sidhu: a San Francisco gangster said Flock cameras and drones ended his drive-bys.

The Right turned on the company anyway.

Rahul Sidhu was a Los Angeles cop, then a reserve officer. He founded Aerodome, sold it to Flock Safety, and is now Flock's chief strategy officer. Flock puts cameras at public intersections in more than 6,000 communities. The cameras read plates, not faces. The city owns the data. Sidhu says the systems helped find more than 10,000 missing people in 2025 and supported more than a million criminal investigations.

On this episode of Counterweight, Sidhu walks through why agencies buy Flock, why a warrant on every plate search would collapse case clearance, and the Milwaukee cop who ran a girlfriend's plate 124 times. He says officers already abused DMV and criminal-history databases. Flock is the system that leaves a log. The company has no ICE contract. Local agencies that want to share with ICE can share. He wants audits written into law and jail time for the officers who abuse the tool. He does not want the cameras taken down.

Listen / watch: https://www.counterweightpod.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@counterweightpod

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/counterweight-with-will-chamberlain/id6803321469

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/18jtv7U8cB0IW82qM9xoK8

Rahul Sidhu: @rahul on X

Will Chamberlain: @willchamberlain

Instagram / TikTok: @counterweightpod

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Flock Safety and Rahul Sidhu

02:39 Rahul's Background and Flock's Mission

04:41 How Flock's ALPR Cameras Work

05:16 Hardware vs Software in Flock’s Products

07:24 Flock's Positive Impact on Public Safety

09:07 Why Flock Became News: Controversies and Criticisms

11:07 Political and Public Concerns About Flock

13:04 Regulation, Law, and Privacy Debates

17:42 Common Critiques: Abuse, Misuse, and Misunderstanding

22:15 AI and Auditing for Police Accountability

27:26 Data Privacy, Ownership, and Sharing Policies

30:24 Use of Flock Data in Different Jurisdictions

36:27 Flock's Capabilities During Emergencies and Lockdowns

38:50 Addressing Concerns of Data Abuse and Government Overreach

45:01 Conservative Perspectives and Misunderstandings

48:29 Closing Remarks and Final Thoughts