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Flock Cameras Are Coming Down Around The Country Only To Be Replaced By The Same Technology With A Different Name - Jalopnik (www.jalopnik.com)
submitted 2 hours ago by to c/politics@lemmy.world
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There's been a great deal of backlash against Flock cameras, with constant vandalism and numerous reports of crooked cops misusing them, leading to more and more communities to cancel their contracts. While Flock has received the most backlash, there are other ALPR companies out there. Rather than ending their use of technology that spies on you, and in a move that doesn't really solve the problems associated with mass surveillance, some departments that have dropped Flock have simply switched to other companies that do the same thing, reports NPR.

One of those competitors is Axon. If that name sounds familiar, it's probably because you've seen it displayed on body cam videos, since Axon is the leading supplier of body cams to law enforcement, according to The Intercept. After a bit of rebranding in 2017 (the same year Flock was founded), many people don't know that Axon is the company formerly known as Taser, the electrical stun gun — another technology that police never, ever misuse.

While Flock had to develop not only its technology, but also its law enforcement contacts and clients, Axon already had the clients in its Rolodex thanks to its other products. Law enforcement agencies may be fleeing from Flock contracts like rats from a sinking ship, but they still want ALPR technology. In places like Denver, Colorado, for example, switching ALPR providers is easy when you're getting your new camera tracking access through a supplier you likely already do business with.

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[–] 15 points 1 hour ago

Cop cars have ALPR’s mounted on their trunk lids too. America is hung up on “Flock” instead of the states and federal government surveillance everyone, legally innocent or guilty, for everything.

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    [–] 7 points 52 minutes ago

    Within seconds, Axon Outpost, a compact, solar-powered ALPR camera perched quietly on a nearby pole, flags a match: silver SUV, roof rack, visible bumper sticker. It sends the alert to AxonFusus, which instantly cross-references the livestream with a dozen other nearby feeds, pulls the path of travel, and pushes it straight to officers in the field. Within minutes, the child is found safe

    Correction: within minutes, heavily armed trigger happy police murder a black man to discover there is no child, and that the AI powered system made another false-positve

    They call paramedics to collect the dead body, and immediately drive away in a frenzy to attack the next innocent person due to the near constant steam of alerts from this hallucinating system.

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    [–] 18 points 1 hour ago* (4 children)

    San Diego approves smart streetlight cameras

    San Diego police will soon be able to rely on surveillance cameras and license plate readers attached to 500 streetlights citywide, after the City Council approved their use Tuesday.

    Also, we have this style, mounted high up on poles at the major intersections in my town, well out of reach of vandalism.

    Yes, I know these are likely not used for the tracking people, or at least weren't originally installed for that. But, what's to keep them from upgrading or replacing them with ones that look the same to serve the same function as Flock cameras? No one would even notice. Sensor resolution, and optics for small cameras keeps improving.

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    • [–] 9 points 1 hour ago (3 children)

    Inevitable. The next generation will be imperceptible and thus impossible to vandalize.

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  • [–] 3 points 58 minutes ago (1 child)

    No. This too can be covered in spray paint and be cut down

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  • [–] 2 points 44 minutes ago*

    I appreciate the enthusiasm, but how will you cut this down? This is where they'll be mounted next:

    Also, the only reason there's been any success is because of social awareness. I have no doubt those types of posts are now being stifled. Perhaps you can fly a drone up and paint a lens, but almost no one else will even if you do. That's beyond the skill set of most people.

    Vandalism isn't going to work, it needs to be addressed at the policy level, that means protests, attending city council meetings, and paying attention and voting in local elections. Not nearly so fun to post videos of this for likes on social media.

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