Flock Cameras Are Being Destroyed Across the US (cnn.com)
(Thursday July 30, 2026 @11:30PM (BeauHD)
from the guerilla-warfare dept.)
- Reference: 0184774922
- News link: https://news.slashdot.org/story/26/07/30/2045213/flock-cameras-are-being-destroyed-across-the-us
- Source link: https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/30/us/flock-camera-vandalism-protests-cec
An anonymous Slashdot reader writes:
> Surveillance cameras owned by Flock Safety have been cut down with electric saws [1]in New York State , vandalized with paint [2]in Oakland, California , and rammed with a truck [3]in Idaho . Flock claims its services fight crime, but law enforcement agencies also use their services to track vehicles based on license plate numbers and reconstruct the their movements, even when the drivers and owners of these vehicles have never been accused or convicted of any crime. (Flock states it has 120,000 automated cameras that record license plate data, as well as pan-tilt-zoom cameras, across the United States.)
>
> A guerilla mindset among average citizens have [4]seen these cameras forcibly disabled within recent weeks with sympathy directed toward the vigilantes. In June, a West Virginia man accused of destroying several Flock cameras was arrested. Under a [5]Facebook post from the local NBC affiliate announcing his arrest are dozens of people volunteering to provide alibis. "He was out fishing with me that day, you got the wrong guy," one man [6]wrote .
[1] https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/three-flock-safety-cameras-damaged-troy-22358846.php
[2] https://oaklandside.org/2026/04/24/who-is-paint-bombing-oaklands-flock-cameras/
[3] https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/idaho/idaho-man-faces-felony-charge-damaged-flock-safety-cameras-pocatello/277-5b0109cb-7c45-40d6-8373-74d3b0cd2e3d
[4] https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/30/us/flock-camera-vandalism-protests-cec
[5] https://www.facebook.com/wboy12news/posts/pfbid0DmAEwEBh73WMSiC9dae94YAyXHmzRUhDRQb3RYAdAUjufi8qkUeAbGHpJ1DHFHjUl
[6] https://www.facebook.com/wboy12news/posts/pfbid0DmAEwEBh73WMSiC9dae94YAyXHmzRUhDRQb3RYAdAUjufi8qkUeAbGHpJ1DHFHjUl
> Surveillance cameras owned by Flock Safety have been cut down with electric saws [1]in New York State , vandalized with paint [2]in Oakland, California , and rammed with a truck [3]in Idaho . Flock claims its services fight crime, but law enforcement agencies also use their services to track vehicles based on license plate numbers and reconstruct the their movements, even when the drivers and owners of these vehicles have never been accused or convicted of any crime. (Flock states it has 120,000 automated cameras that record license plate data, as well as pan-tilt-zoom cameras, across the United States.)
>
> A guerilla mindset among average citizens have [4]seen these cameras forcibly disabled within recent weeks with sympathy directed toward the vigilantes. In June, a West Virginia man accused of destroying several Flock cameras was arrested. Under a [5]Facebook post from the local NBC affiliate announcing his arrest are dozens of people volunteering to provide alibis. "He was out fishing with me that day, you got the wrong guy," one man [6]wrote .
[1] https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/three-flock-safety-cameras-damaged-troy-22358846.php
[2] https://oaklandside.org/2026/04/24/who-is-paint-bombing-oaklands-flock-cameras/
[3] https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/idaho/idaho-man-faces-felony-charge-damaged-flock-safety-cameras-pocatello/277-5b0109cb-7c45-40d6-8373-74d3b0cd2e3d
[4] https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/30/us/flock-camera-vandalism-protests-cec
[5] https://www.facebook.com/wboy12news/posts/pfbid0DmAEwEBh73WMSiC9dae94YAyXHmzRUhDRQb3RYAdAUjufi8qkUeAbGHpJ1DHFHjUl
[6] https://www.facebook.com/wboy12news/posts/pfbid0DmAEwEBh73WMSiC9dae94YAyXHmzRUhDRQb3RYAdAUjufi8qkUeAbGHpJ1DHFHjUl
jury nullification (Score:2)
by puzzled ( 12525 )
Someone needs to launch a national campaign educating people on jury nullification.
The property damage laws are not really the sort of thing nullification is meant for, it's supposed to quickly put an end to the effect of bad laws, but if that's the one tool handy, and it's this much of a social issue, it should be put to work.
Governments don't have the right (Score:4, Insightful)
to do mass general surveillance. And they can not give the right to businesses and then buy the surveillance either. Companies like Flock are the cockroaches of our communities.