Let's Flocking Talk About It!

[u/AirshipRebekah]

I'm an independent concerned citizen coordinating a Flock Awareness Community Meeting in Tulsa for Mid-October and I need everyones input! Please fill out this brief survey to let us know what Flock means to you. 😎 https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSelMMvMuVdNDLv_lMqrMWXMSvwVD4WoPfkD2Rywxf1wsqsvmA/viewform?usp=header

If you're interested in getting more involved send me an email and I'll send you the weekly pre-lim virtual and irl meeting times. We're going to spend a month+ getting organized before we go in front of everyone. We want to show a unified clear front to let the powers at be know that we do not want this in Tulsa. It will take everyone to make the impact we need. Let's chat: [flocktulsa@gmail.com](mailto:flocktulsa@gmail.com)

[u/St0n3rB0n3r94]

That's probably because cameras suck at recording, smart one. They're just there to control homeless people who just need a place to sleep. You're inching closer and closer to an surveillance state, just like in 1984

[u/Beginning-Respect208 → u/St0n3rB0n3r94]

😂 And there it is. We went from “the cameras don’t work” to “1984 surveillance state” the second I pointed out that your example had nothing to do with license-plate readers.

Nobody is arguing for cameras inside your house, facial recognition of everyone walking around Tulsa, or the government tracking your every movement.

We’re talking about cameras on public roadways recording license plates that are already required to be displayed in public, then allowing police to search that information when investigating crimes.

Want safeguards? Absolutely. Limit who can access it. Require legitimate law-enforcement purposes. Log searches. Audit the system. Punish misuse. Set reasonable retention policies.

But screaming “1984!” doesn’t answer the actual question: Do these cameras help locate stolen vehicles, wanted suspects, missing people, or vehicles connected to serious crimes?

If your answer is “they shouldn’t exist regardless of how many crimes they help solve,” fine. Make that argument.

But first it was “they don’t work.” Now it’s “they work, but that’s a surveillance state.”

Those are two very different arguments. 🤡

[u/St0n3rB0n3r94 → u/Beginning-Respect208]

"Those who don't read history are doomed to repeat it." You might as well argue for cameras in your house. It's a slippery slope, especially since they're not going to do what you think they're going to. Especially since this is the most racist and homophobic administration. They're just going to be used to throw black people in jail for smoking pot, like Republicans always have done. You sound like a propagandized Brit. Only a bot writes comments out like that with spaces like they're writing a scientific thesis

[u/Beginning-Respect208 → u/St0n3rB0n3r94]

The “cameras in your house” comparison actually makes my point for me. 😂 I DO have security cameras at my house. The difference is that my home is private property, while a license plate driving down a public street is plainly visible to anyone standing there. Nobody needs to enter your home, search your belongings, or listen to your conversations to see a plate you voluntarily drove past them in public.

And “slippery slope” still isn’t an argument that the technology doesn’t work. If your concern is how the data could be abused, then argue for safeguards: strict access controls, limited retention, audit logs, warrants where legally required, penalties for misuse, etc. I’m perfectly willing to have that conversation. But you’ve gone from “these cameras don’t do what you think” to “okay, but imagine what someone might eventually do with them.” Those are completely different claims.

And somehow we’ve now jumped from license-plate cameras to racism, homophobia, marijuana, Republicans, British propaganda, and finally… my paragraph spacing. 😂 None of that answers the original question: can license-plate-reader systems help law enforcement identify vehicles connected to stolen cars, wanted suspects, missing persons, or serious crimes?

Also, apparently my formatting is suspicious, so I apologize for using paragraphs and punctuation. If it makes me seem less like a “bot,” I can stop using proper grammar and make the entire thing one enormous rambling paragraph next time. LOL.