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DEAD

Oct 10, 2026 9 min read

DEAD RECKONING: The cops who quit Flock may find Axon harder to leave

Kenosha is swapping Flock's plate readers for an $11 million, 94-month Axon package. If the city ever wants out, it gets 90 days to download its evidence, and Axon won't guarantee the files still work. Plus ICE's shock gloves, its robot dogs, and the vendors now advising the Pentagon.

A 1:1 scale outline of an MQ-9 Reaper military drone, titled "Drone Shadow 008" (2015) by British artist and technologist James Bridle, stretches across the courtyard of the KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin. Bridle created the "Drone Shadow" series using industrial road-marking paint to render the invisible infrastructure of remote aerial surveillance and warfare tangible within civilian public spaces. (Photo courtesy of James Bridle)

DEAD RECKONING: The cops who quit Flock may find Axon harder to leave — A 1:1 scale outline of an MQ-9 Reaper military drone, titled "Drone Shadow 008" (2015) by British artist and technologist James Bridle, stretches across the courtyard of the KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin. Bridle created the "Drone Shadow" series using industrial road-marking paint to render the invisible infrastructure of remote aerial surveillance and warfare tangible within civilian public spaces. (Photo courtesy of James Bridle)

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Matt Stroud — Matt Stroud is an investigative reporter and author of Thin Blue Lie. He writes about journalism, power, and how stories get made, drawing on two decades of reporting for national outlets and long-form investigative projects.