The Flock Camera Network in Baton Rouge Was Never Voted On By Anyone. Here's The Paper Trail
Been a bit of chatter about the Flock Cameras lately.
The question isn't whether the cameras exist. It's how they got there without a single public vote, city council approval, or competitive bid.
Here's what the public record actually shows.
There's a nonprofit called the Louisiana Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Foundation (EIN 85-2555539). Chairman is a Baton Rouge marketing guy named Clay Young. Former interim BRPD chief Jonny Dunnam is their Vice Chairman and public face. Sheriff Gautreaux was at the founding press conference. The DA was there. The police chief was there.
This nonprofit has helped put over 100 cameras and license plate readers in East Baton Rouge Parish. Their own people said so to WBRZ on the record.
Now here's where it gets interesting.
I pulled their IRS Form 990 for FY2024 off ProPublica. It's public record. Go look yourself: search EIN 85-2555539.
What I found:
Line 24a under expenses, labeled explicitly: "CRIME/LPR CAMERA SUBSCR — $176,564"
That's a Flock Safety subscription. In their own tax filing. In their own words.
Now here's the loop that should make your blood boil:
- EBRSO is listed as a donor to this nonprofit
- The nonprofit takes that money — your tax dollars — and buys Flock cameras
- The cameras get donated back to EBRSO and BRPD
- No competitive bid. No city council vote. No public approval. Ever.
The Sheriff's Office gave money to a nonprofit that bought the Sheriff's Office surveillance equipment. That's not a donation. That's procurement laundering.
Under Louisiana public bid law, purchases above certain thresholds require competitive bidding. When a public agency needs equipment, other vendors compete, the public sees the contract, the price is defensible. None of that happened here because at no point did a public agency formally purchase anything. The money made a lap around the nonprofit and came back as hardware.
This may also violate Louisiana Constitution Article VII Section 14 which prohibits the gratuitous alienation of public funds.
Other fun facts from the 990:
- Revenue nearly tripled in one year from $430k to $1.138 million in 2024
- They're sitting on $1,022,966 in assets
- Zero independent audits. Ever.
- No conflict of interest policy
- No whistleblower policy
- No document retention policy
- $96,000 in management fees paid to an unnamed recipient
- All donor names legally shielded under Schedule B
The Inspiration Center at Howell Park is real and does real community work. Nobody's saying otherwise. But the same nonprofit running youth basketball is also running a no-bid surveillance procurement pipeline funded by the very agencies it's procuring for.
You want to be mad about Flock cameras? Be mad about the right thing.
The cameras didn't appear because Baton Rouge voted for them. They appeared because someone built a structure specifically designed to make sure you never got to vote.
The 990 is public. Go read it yourself.
EIN 85-2555539 — ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer.