Darth Vader Roasts Flock Cameras At San Diego Council

Rather than lodging a straightforward complaint about automated license plate readers, the unidentified Sith Lord stayed in character and pretended to back the technology on behalf of the Empire. "The Emperor is a fan of Flock," he announced, before explaining that the cameras could help "follow and surveil the Rebel scum" as they moved between playgrounds, pools, and gymnasiums. Attendees visible in a YouTube video of the speech struggled to hold straight faces.

The bit escalated from there. Vader joked that the cameras could help him stalk an ex-girlfriend, then widened his satire to police funding, homelessness policy, public services, and incarceration. He eventually returned to Star Wars territory, claiming the readers could pinpoint the Rebels' secret base on Hoth and track Luke Skywalker flying his X-wing, concluding that the technology was a "necessary, necessary force."

Beneath the comedy sits a genuine and escalating fight over surveillance. Flock's cameras photograph vehicles and log license plates, building a searchable database that supporters say helps locate missing people, recover stolen cars, and identify suspects. Law enforcement backers have leaned on those use cases to justify the networks spreading across American cities.

The Guardian reports that another man from San Diego spent a month in jail after a Flock reader wrongly linked him to an attempted violent carjacking, a case that underscores how a false plate match can upend someone's life before the mistake is caught. The same reporting, citing figures from DeFlock, says roughly 100 municipalities had deactivated, cancelled, or rejected Flock contracts by August 2026.

That resistance has played out in council chambers and city halls across the country, where officials weigh the promise of faster investigations against mounting privacy objections and the risk of misidentification. San Diego went the other way. The city voted last December to keep the system running, and the cameras remain operational, a decision the costumed speaker framed as a win for the Empire.

Whether Vader changed a single mind on the committee is unclear, and nothing in the meeting suggested San Diego intends to revisit its December vote.

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