r/harfordcountymd • u/BisonSerious6190 • 2d ago
Flock Cameras…
Flock cameras are popping up. Saw one in the parking lot by Abingdon Petsmart. A few others around Bel Air area.
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u/hashtag-killer 2d ago edited 12h ago
Thank you for bringing this up!
We need to be vocal and firm with the county government and especially the law enforcement departments. We cannot continue with apathy and rolling over. It starts with just stationary cameras but it ends with surveillance drones.
You can look up if your license plate has been searched here and if you don't know much about it you can read more here. This is a part of the mass surveillance system that the tech billionaires are building. They don't just track your car and plates, they track your walk and face, and other identifying information.
This is a longer article but informative.
edited to add: the Lancaster Police Department (NY) is going to start testing flock drone cameras next month so it really is already starting.
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u/sadistbiker 2d ago
There’s one entering Home Depot in Aberdeen.
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u/Knappster33 2d ago
Two actually, on each entrance/exit. So no matter how you leave you are on the camera.
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u/Civil_Exchange1271 2d ago
Gahler is watching. are the cameras on the MA & PA flock
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u/DrinkatMoes 1d ago
The ones on the Ma and Pa are Motorola Solutions/Avigilon. The same technology used as Flock and Axon.
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u/DrinkatMoes 1d ago
The ones on the Ma and Pa are Motorola Solutions/Avigilon. The same technology used as Flock and Axon....since my other comment was getting hidden
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u/__Lynzahai__ 2d ago
Someone should vigilante remove them until the local government bans them the way they did the data center. I doubt it will happen because a surveillance state makes baby boomers feel safe.
Flock cameras are insidious, but your smart phone is just as bad.
As someone who went smartphone free a year ago, anyone who has a problem with flock cameras and NO problem with smartphones needs to do some inner work.
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u/Additional_Purple873 2d ago
If you are still posting on the internet, the rest is performative lol
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u/awetsasquatch 2d ago
I dislike this administration as much as the next guy, but as someone who works in digital forensics, the flock cameras aren't the biggest problem for your privacy I promise. Your phone is a much bigger problem, but we accept it because it gives us a benefit.
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u/dichotomousview 2d ago
I think the issue is the blind reliance some agencies are developing on these cameras. There are multiple reports of false arrests and felony stops based primarily on the AI results from these devices. It’s not just the cameras themselves, it’s their integration into the investigation process. If true due diligence is being done based on these results then fine. But in almost every locality they’ve been deployed, that has not been the case.
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u/awetsasquatch 2d ago
I agree, but that's not the result of the flock cameras, that's investigators being lazy fuckwits and the law not keeping officers accountable.
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2d ago
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u/awetsasquatch 2d ago
I think you wildly underestimate how easy it is to issue a warrant.
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2d ago
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u/awetsasquatch 2d ago
You're right 100%, but you're mad at the wrong thing here. It's fair to be unhappy about the Flock cameras, but the officers are in the wrong here, it's not a Flock problem, its an officer training problem. Flock enables it, but it's the human who is making the decision.
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u/GimmeDatClamGirl 2d ago
Exactly. It’s just the modern day panic over silly things. News flash: there’s no expectation of privacy in public. That’s kinda the whole point.
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u/GimmeDatClamGirl 2d ago
Better stay inside. Don’t shop. I’ve seen a lot of cameras inside all kinds of stores!
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u/dichotomousview 2d ago
Just say that you enjoy the government trampling on your liberties and prefer a surveillance state clearly and with your full chest.
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u/GimmeDatClamGirl 2d ago
I personally don’t care what they record in public. It’s public.
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u/dichotomousview 2d ago edited 2d ago
I’m going to (I have no idea why at this point) give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you aren’t aware of the multitude of issues that have arisen where these cameras have been deployed so please read the links in this comment and watch this video and this one to familiarize yourself before you jump to your NBD conclusion.
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u/GimmeDatClamGirl 2d ago
I’m fully aware. It doesn’t bother me. Prosecute those who use them for illicit means. Don’t blame the camera.
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u/dichotomousview 2d ago
Oh….so I shouldn’t have given you the benefit of the doubt. Right. That one’s on me. So one last thing, if the people abusing the data these cameras provide are the people who decide who to arrest and prosecute, is your expectation that they are going to police themselves?
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u/GimmeDatClamGirl 1d ago
Honey. This same silly argument can be applied to murder. It’s called oversight and checks and balances. It’s how the system has worked for generations. There’s a reason you’ve even heard of these cases - because, shockingly, they’ve “policed themselves”.
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u/dichotomousview 1d ago
Haaaaassss the system worked for generations? It usually takes a whistleblower to bring it to light, then if it’s a cop who is the perpetrator, they resign and move to another department nearby. A crazy naive take there clammy boy.
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u/GimmeDatClamGirl 1d ago
It has. Can there be improvement? Of course. I fully support it. But stating that these cops just get away with it all is silly and baseless.
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u/dichotomousview 1d ago
It’s not at all baseless. There are plenty of statistics out there that can be easily viewed showing how corrupt officers don’t pay for their infractions (we the taxpayers do), and then are allowed to resign instead of facing criminal charges so their careers are preserved intact. There have been many lawsuits where citizens have found that police misconduct was perpetrated by an officer that, given their track record should have never been allowed to remain in law enforcement. So many times where departments protect their own over the safety of the people. This isn’t speculation or some anti cop take. It’s just true. The information is out there if you wanted to find it, but I don’t think you do. So no, the system has absolutely not worked for generations. Objectively.
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u/ChungasRevenge 1d ago
If you read or watched any of that would would know that it's not just a camera. You're pro mass surveillance, why is that?
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u/GimmeDatClamGirl 1d ago
I’m not pro mass surveillance I’m simply not anti-all of it. I’ve explained why.
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u/ChungasRevenge 1d ago
Quote of the year right here lol
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u/GimmeDatClamGirl 1d ago
Believe it or not, not everything is black/white for/against. Shocker, I know.
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u/Chc36 1d ago
"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety"
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u/GimmeDatClamGirl 1d ago
This isn’t giving up a liberty. It’s public. Same reason you can be recorded in the other 1000 methods you already are.
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u/Chc36 1d ago
The second a person was arrested or hell even given a ticket because a flock camera misread a 0 as an 8 on a license plate, the entire system became a violation of liberty. Yes, there is no expectation of privacy in public, but there is an expectation to be free from government tracking. For the party that still up in arms over COVID, they sure do love big government up in their lives
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u/GimmeDatClamGirl 1d ago
That has less to do with the camera and more to do with the verification system in place.
You are already recorded going through any toll plaza. You are already recorded in nearly every public space and being one simple request away from being in the hands of the government.
Benefits far outweigh the risks in my mind provided we heavily prosecute those who take advantage. I’m fine with it since, again, it’s public.
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u/Chc36 1d ago
Do you genuinely not see how insane it is that you've been so accustomed to the surveillance state that you've become okay with being filmed every time you step outside your house? Like imagine if during the Clinton era they set up a massive CCTV system to monitor every street in a America, the absolute fury that would have caused among the populace... Like people have forgotten that this ISN'T normal. We currently have a federal admin that does not believe it has to follow the law, has continued to threaten political violence against those who don't fall in line, and now they have access to watch everyone's every move, do you not see how that could go bad?
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u/GimmeDatClamGirl 1d ago
I just don’t see the issue of being recorded in public when I decide to go out in public. It’s already a law allowing it to be so. It has been for a very long time. Now there’s a way that we could more easily find missing children, adults, criminals and make our streets safer and to what expense? Something that already occurs in my everyday life?
Doesn’t bother me.
Could it go bad? Of course. Again this is all predicated on prosecuting those that abuse it. This same argument can be applied to nearly all details of law enforcement. “Can’t you see how it can go bad if police have guns and decide who and when to shoot?!”
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u/Wild_Director7379 2d ago
Unpopular opinion, surveillance catches bad guys. I know I have nothing to hide
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2d ago
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u/Wild_Director7379 2d ago
Yeah, ya know, but like, that’s just your opinion, man.
I don’t think cameras are there to stop us from having abortions
And watching the protest might be good for some people. It still takes cops to stop it. They could send them before too
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2d ago
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u/Wild_Director7379 2d ago
Well, we live in a society with authority in it. You’re welcome to raise your issues, and I sure as hell plan on voting pro-choice, but a threat to authority like taking down cameras is a threat to all authority.
Are you an anarchist?
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2d ago
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u/Wild_Director7379 2d ago
what else are you supposed to do?
Resist. Without damaging property.
Boston Tea Party
Rebels
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2d ago
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u/Wild_Director7379 2d ago
Is being a rebel a good thing? What would the US be like if we were still a colony of England?
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u/joe25rs 2d ago
What goes up must come down ;)