In brief
- WTTDOTM’s Grand Theft Automated License Plate Reader adds 235 simulated Flock cameras to GTA V.
- The cameras track players and report in-game offenses to police, but players can destroy them.
- The project joins community-built additions to popular games including Cyberpunk 2077.
A Grand Theft Auto V mod has added 235 simulated Flock surveillance cameras to Los Santos, giving players a new source of police attention—and something else to blow up.
Created by modder WTTDOTM, Grand Theft Automated License Plate Reader adds cameras that photograph and track players and report in-game offenses to police. Players can destroy the devices throughout the fictional city and save the footage to share online.
“Flock is a scourge on America,” WTTDOTM said in a promotional video on TikTok.
The playful in-game criticism comes amid growing real-world opposition to the Flock camera networks and questions about police access to location records.
“It’s a private, eight-billion-dollar surveillance company that operates over 100,000 cameras across the country,” the modder said. “If you think the 235 in this mod are bad, just understand that that is one-tenth of the cameras currently installed in LA County, which Los Santos is based on.”
Flock Safety’s automated license plate readers record vehicle plates and identifying details. The idea is to give police the ability to search those records to investigate crimes, recover stolen vehicles, and locate missing people. But critics point to rampant police misuse of the data, on top of the apparent privacy concerns such technology raises.
Opposition to Flock cameras has reached Congress amid concerns over tracking people who are not suspected of crimes, data retention, and police oversight. A Washington Post investigation identified at least 69 police officials accused, charged, or convicted of misusing Flock or similar license plate readers.
In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott ordered state agencies to stop funding Flock cameras, his office confirmed to the Texas Tribune.
Flock CEO Garrett Langley has defended the technology’s public-safety role. In a Fox News interview, he called for compromise between privacy and safety, arguing that regulation should address data retention and accountability for officers who abuse the system.
From Night City Trains to AI Characters
The Flock camera mod is part of a long tradition of players modifying games to add features, change how they work, or introduce their own missions.
In 2021, creator keanuWheeze’s Metro System mod added rideable trains to Cyberpunk 2077. The mod was so popular that CD Projekt Red later added an official, fully functional metro system inspired by it into the game.
Players are still finding ways to change GTA V as Rockstar prepares Grand Theft Auto VI. The sequel returns to Vice City in the fictional state of Leonida, with protagonists Jason and Lucia leading its crime story.
Anticipation has also attracted scammers. NordVPN researchers identified fake applications, phishing sites, and malware campaigns exploiting interest in GTA VI, including offers of exclusive beta access.
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