Car break-ins — the unofficial sport of San Francisco — are down roughly 80% from their peak. Hit-and-run drivers are getting caught faster. Property crime that had become a punchline for every late-night host and a trauma point for actual residents is finally, measurably declining. The Flock camera network, which uses automated license plate readers to track vehicles linked to criminal activity, appears to be a significant factor.

As one SF resident put it: "The level of property crime we experienced was inconvenient, embarrassing — the bipping spiel you'd have to give any visitors — and often traumatic for victims. So until some of these Flock concerns are more materialized at scale, I'm kind of okay living with these cameras around, since they seem to be working."

That's a pretty reasonable take from a city that spent years being told to just accept smashed windows as the cost of urban living.

Now, are there legitimate surveillance concerns? Absolutely. Any system that tracks vehicle movements at scale deserves robust oversight, clear data retention limits, and actual accountability mechanisms. We're libertarians at heart — we don't love giving the government new eyes. But here's the thing: the government's first job is public safety. When your city has spent a decade failing spectacularly at that one core function, effective tools shouldn't be rejected on vibes alone.

Another local captured the tension perfectly: "Using shoplifting as a cover for the most aggressive surveillance tactics of all time is the most ridiculous cover story... on the other hand, yeah, we probably are doing all this for the Tide Pods."

That's the weird place San Francisco finds itself. The surveillance debate deserves serious engagement — real guardrails, sunset clauses, independent audits. But the people demanding we ditch these cameras need to answer a simple question: what's your alternative? Because "do nothing and hope for the best" was the previous strategy, and we all remember how that went.

Flock works. Now make sure it works responsibly. That's the real fight.