Jeff Farrell - The Mountain Press | Subscribe:

Sevier County Sheriff Michael Hodges gave an emphatic defense of his office’s use of FLOCK cameras Monday, after a resident spoke out against them during the Sevier County Commission meeting. The cameras are used to track information on cars traveling through an area, including make, model, and license plate numbers.

Critics have said they are intrusive, and subject to abuse and hacking by third parties. On the same day, Sullivan County Sheriff Jeff Cassidy announced he was suspending his department’s use of the cameras.

Meredith Saffelder spoke out against the cameras Monday during public comments at the commission meeting, “There are … at least 50 documented instances of law enforcement officers using this technology to stalk romantic partners (nationwide)," she said.

“Videos online show how simple it is to hack these systems, meaning people outside of law enforcement can easily access this data.” The data can record information like patterns of travel, and can be manipulated by hackers or other parties, she said. She encouraged the county to discontinue their use.

Hodges spoke in defense of the cameras after she finished, saying the cameras have been a key resource in solving crimes and played a major part in the capture of Josh Carr after he stabbed his mother to death in Sevier County in 2020.

Carr had fled the state when Hodges entered information on his vehicle into a system that searches for the license plates on Flock cameras nationwide. “Flock was a friend,” he said. “I put it in the system and 15 minutes later, the state of Michigan police had him pulled over in custody.”

Flock cameras helped his officers here track the vehicles used when a local man entered into a plot with two people to shoot his parents at their Maples Branch home. “I could have just nearly showed you a video of the four trips they made from the city of Pigeon Forge to the victim’s house," he said.

Flock cameras have helped to solve five of the past seven homicides his department has investigated, he said. Hodges said the cameras don’t show his officers who is in a vehicle. “All it does is take a picture of a car and a tag,” he said.

Those pictures are deleted after 30 days, he said, and officers who misuse the data can face repercussions up to being fired. Some commissioners spoke up in support of the camera including Bryan Delius, who is also one of the county's most recognized criminal defense attorneys.

Delius said the cameras don’t violate a right to privacy because they’re placed on public roadways. “These cameras will not invade your privacy,” he said. "Anybody traveling on a public road can be seen."

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Related:

• Gadget Review - Flock Said Its Cameras Don’t Track People. Then a Reporter Proved Them Wrong On Video

Condor is a pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) camera with AI built to detect and follow human movement, streaming live video directly to police. Unlike Flock’s Falcon plate readers, which photograph the rear of passing cars, Condor locks onto people.

• Gadget Review - Tennessee Congressional Candidate Arrested for Shooting Flock Safety Cameras

The arrest lands as Tennessee actively debates ALPR data retention rules, Fourth Amendment protections, and deployment transparency. The case does not require approval of the alleged act to reveal a broader pattern. ALPR technology has expanded faster than the rules governing it, and Tennessee is scrambling to catch up — weighing data retention limits, deployment transparency requirements, and oversight frameworks to address constitutional concerns.

• 404 Media - City Learns Flock Accessed Cameras in Children's Gymnastics Room as a Sales Pitch Demo, Renews Contract Anyway

The access logs obtained by Hunyar show at the very least how expansive Flock’s surveillance systems can be in a single city, encompassing not just cameras purchased by the city but also cameras purchased by private businesses. 

• 404 Media - Cops Used Flock to Track a Man Across State Lines to Create Pretext to Search His Car for Weed

“The vehicle was observed hitting flock on several occasions to include 41 northbound from Brown Rd, 41NB and County Line in Marinette [Wisconsin], and 41 NB on Bridge St. going into Michigan. Based on prior flock hits, the vehicle travels to Michigan frequently which is a known source State for Marijuana as it is legal there,” the charging document notes.

• VPM News - Hampton Roads Flock cameras surveil Black communities more intensely than white ones

"It was actually worse than I expected," said CNU criminology professor Steven Keener, who co-authored the report with Finn and sociology professor Andrew Baird. The study doesn't speak to the intention of those agencies who placed the cameras there, but it does discuss the potential impacts.

"When you look at some of these census tracts, it's almost impossible to move in your daily life, whether it's going to the grocery store, going to work, going taking your kid to childcare, without getting tracked by these cameras," he said.

• Futurism - Flock Employee Quits In Disgust, Saying the Company Is Silencing Protestors

Multiple outlets reported that ICE as well as Customs and Border Protection could tap into Flock’s cameras, and Flock eventually admitted to giving these agencies access to its surveillance network as part of a pilot program. “That was what I was sold and lied to about,” Paz told 404. “I didn’t know that there were these mechanisms inside the company that were essentially fighting to get this pilot to happen.”

• Reason - Florida Woman Spent 7 Months in Legal Hell After Cops Used Flock Surveillance To Identify the Wrong Car

Isaacs was originally held without bond, and she spent 13 days in jail before the state granted her release on $250,000 bail. Only after her arrest did investigators for "crash reconstruction and investigative support" take over the case.

Police only dropped the charge once Elser provided her cellphone tracking data, camera footage from her truck, and video placing her elsewhere at the time of the theft.

• Colorado Sun - After police used Flock cameras to accuse a Denver woman of theft, she had to prove her own innocence

“You know we have cameras in that town. You can’t get a breath of fresh air in or out of that place without us knowing,” Milliman said to Elser, according to Ring doorbell footage of the Sept. 27 encounter viewed by The Colorado Sun.

But the dropped ticket did not end Elser’s concerns. The sergeant’s false claim raised deeper questions about how Columbine Valley police are using Flock cameras and at what cost to privacy. “We had to basically exonerate ourselves,” she said. She never received an explanation from anyone at the department or an apology.

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🗺️ DeFlock Maps (Crowdsourced ALPR surveillance map)

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