--- title: "Flock Safety Found Handing Out Fat Sacks of Cash to Friendly Politicians" description: "The highly controversial surveillance company has spent over $2 million on state and federal elections over the past few years." date: "2026-11-10" modified: "2026-11-10" authors: - name: "Joe Wilkins" job_title: "Correspondent" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins.md" url: "https://futurism.com/future-society/flock-safety-surveillance-lobbying-politicians" categories: - "Finance" - "Future Society" - "Privacy" --- # Flock Safety Found Handing Out Fat Sacks of Cash to Friendly Politicians ![A color-treated photo of a man in a suit putting away a stack of dollar bills.]() *Shutterstock / Futurism* As Flock Safety looks to expand its already massive network of automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) throughout the US, political lobbying has become a key tool for the [extremely unpopular]() company to achieve its aims. As [the *Chicago Sun Times* reported]() in the wake of the US midterms, the controversial AI surveillance company Flock Safety has given nearly $500,000 to campaigns for local and state candidates in Illinois alone over the past two-odd years. The political spending spree in Illinois comes as a result of two contracts with lobbying firms including Cozen O'Connor Public Strategies, which the *Chicago Sun* reports was first retained by the surveillance company in early 2024. Cozen O'Connor represents other startups-turned-tech-dynasties like Lyft, as well as [facilitating loans]() between lenders and data center developers. Flock has also contracted the firm Mercury Public Affairs to [lobby federal politicians]() on both sides of the aisle, including the successful Democrat senate nominee from Illinois, Juliana Stratton. The company's total lobbying spend on this election came out to [more than $2 million]() across the country, as its surveillance network has ballooned to include nearly 150,000 ALPRs. Despite all of Flock's spending in races across the US, voters [loudly rejected]() the company's advances in local contests. In towns from Texas to Maine where ALPRs came up through ballot measures, voters rejected them, voting overwhelmingly to require voter consent for police to install new surveillance tools — or even to end ongoing contracts with Flock entirely. **More on Flock:** *[Signs of Crisis at Flock as It Offers Employees Buyouts to Quit and Get Off Payroll]()* ## Author At Futurism, I focus on the intersection of technology and power — examining the economics, history, and politics behind today’s dystopian headlines. As a writer, I’m interested in topics ranging from AI’s impact on labor to startups nobody asked for. My prior work includes bylines in Jacobin, Verso, and Blue Labyrinths. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Forbes, The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Time, The Nation, Mother Jones, The Verge, and Wired. I grew up in Michigan, attending Central Michigan University as well as Ball State University, where I earned a master of music. I now live in Brooklyn with my girlfriend and our cat Ziti. On weekends, you can find me hunched over a cold pint arguing geopolitics with the other transplants. ### Author social links [Bluesky]() ## More - [Bill Gates Admits to Multiple Affairs in Epstein Fallout]() - [The Venezuela Polymarket Scandal Is Looking Really Bad]() - [Stan Lee Resuscitated for AI-Powered Hologram at Comic Con]() - [Insider Trading on Polymarket Is Revealing Military Secrets]() - [Fed Boss Concerned About AI’s Effect on Job Market]() - [Attention Writers: Anthropic Might Owe You $3000 (or More!) If It Was Trained Using Your Work]() - [Wall Street Analyst Warns That Nvidia Is Facing Serious Trouble]() - [Nvidia Is Quaking in Its Boots]()