Atherton is not the focus of the story, so much as it is a town small enough that it can't handle oversight of the actual story, which is Flock cameras. Outsourcing public safety cameras to a non-governmental corporation creates a privacy nightmare over which small towns can't exercise proper oversight. Another example: https://cardinalnews.org/2025/03/28/i-drove-300-miles-in-rur... (although I think the Commonwealth of Virginia has now started to regulate Flock camerasj.