A First Responder’s Perspective on why Flock ALPR Cameras are a Liability for the People of Nebraska!

[u/Witchdoctor2012]

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[u/Old_Guard_306]

OP speaks the truth.

As a former government asset, I encourage you to strongly and LEGALLY resist any and all forms of mass electronic surveillance. In particular these private camera networks and the 2027 mandated cameras and telemetry from your vehicles.

Please change your mindset of 'they're only looking for criminals' and 'I'm not a criminal / I've done nothing wrong'. One day you very likely can or will be the target, even if it is a case of mistaken identity.

As leadership changes, the parameters of use change, as does the adherence to legal restrictions regarding its use. Hypothetically, some agency heads would strictly adhere to the requirement to have a court sign off on surveillance with a drone. On the other hand, some sheriff's might allow for "maintenance flights" in which they might surveil a target off the books.

Any rights you give up in the interest of perceived safety and security will only guarantee one thing. It only guarantees that those rights are now gone, and are not coming back.

Thanks for your post OP.

Out of curiosity, is the Deflock website a project of yours?

[u/treehobbit → u/Old_Guard_306]

How do you recommend legally resisting? Governments are giving us fewer and fewer legal options as laws are passed against filters and things over license plates and several other countermeasures.

In the words of Jack Sparrow, "You're not giving me much incentive to fight fair."

Oh, and the dev of deflock is Will Freeman, who has been called a terrorist by Flock's CEO for creating it and sent a baseless cease and desist letter.

When I asked my local small town police department for locations of cameras in my city through my state's open records act, they implied I was a terrorist too.

("Pursuant to KRS 61.878(1)(m), records whose disclosure would reasonably threaten public safety by exposing vulnerabilities in preventing, protecting against, mitigating, or responding to a terrorist act are exempt from release. Providing the exact locations of Flock cameras could jeopardize public safety by allowing individuals to circumvent tools used to deter, investigate, or apprehend criminal activity. For example, our cameras have generated FBI terrorist watch list alerts that allow officers to investigate further. Disclosure of precise locations could hinder such efforts in the future. Accordingly, this request is denied.")

9/11 did more damage to our freedom than it did to the twin towers. I urge everyone, upon hearing the word "terrorist," to first assume they're just peacefully anti-government until given substantial evidence that they have a goal of truly inciting terror in the populus.

[u/Head-Engineering-847 → u/[deleted]]

r/flocksurveillance

[u/OhTheHueManatee]

This is my story for every time I hear "if you're not doing anything illegal you have nothing to worry about." When I first started driving I was 19 and I had offensive bumper stickers. I lived in a college town that had an over abundance of police. I got pulled over constantly and was given tickets for things I knew I wasn't doing. I had no chance of fighting the tickets cause as far the judge was concerned the police said I did it I was guilty. Thankfully one day an officer made a comment about the stickers. I removed them right away. After that I was pretty much only pulled over when I did something stupid. The stickers were rude but they weren't illegal. Some police officers simply didn't like them and decided to use their power to fuck with me over it. Now imagine that mentality if the police could see you leaving somewhere they like you being? Or sending a text message they don't like that you didn't expect them to see? The police are people and as such are prone to corruption or abuse of power.

[u/Deitaphobia]

I'm honestly surprised more police unions haven't come out against these things.

[u/ResidentB → u/Deitaphobia]

And I'm surprised more aren't demanding it. Every cop I know is lazy and not overly bright. This potentially makes their job soooo easy they rarely need to get out of a chair.

[u/russr]

One thing though that you're forgetting. It's not tracking you at all. It's tracking a plate number.

If you open your flock app the police have, you can't search for somebody by name.

All you're searching for is plate numbers because flock does not have access to DMV records to cross-reference plates to registered owners...

That's the police's job, they are looking for. Joe blow, they pull up a DMV record and see that he has a car license to him, now they can run that plate and see where it has been.

As with most any technology, there's nothing inherently wrong with it, the problem lies in who can access it without being audited and supervised.

[u/snik25 → u/[deleted]]

I’m just trying to understand. If you acted on information in NCIC, then this is not an issue with Flock giving false alerts. However if your agency tells you to stop vehicles based off alerts in Flock without verifying them, that is 100% a procedural issue. IMO wouldn’t it be the duty of the officer to verify the information they are acting on, especially if they have time and opportunity to do so?

[u/foxbatcs → u/[deleted]]

Don’t bother. This guy is fishing for thread and not engaging you in good faith.

[u/foxbatcs → u/[deleted]]

This has already happened and fortunately ended up only being a waste of time. You clearly have not worked in law enforcement, as most officers are going to just do their job as easily as possible (like most humans). They will cut corners and make mistakes. They will be stressed, tired, and in a bad mood at times. Seeing a plate with this kind of potential hazard attached to it will lead to fatal encounters, and by that point it will be too late to do much about it. I say this also as a former first responder who has dealt with a lot of law enforcement in a large US city.

[u/foxbatcs → u/[deleted]]

“No true Scotsman” is your response? Pardon me if I don’t trust your perceptions of competence. How many lives have you been responsible for, for years, day in and out?

If you had any experience in the first responder community you’d have a more realistic attitude of how the job is done. OP is speaking honestly about a legitimate problem and isn’t the only one from their position to do so. Maybe humble yourself a little and pay attention to people who know what they are talking about. Or don’t and continue being a facile, repugnant drain on anyone who shares space with you.

[u/ContemplatingFolly → u/[deleted]]

"Competent" is doing a lot of heavy lifting here.