NEW INFORMATION
Our announcement about flock cameras blew up, reaching over 23,000 community members. The people who saw it also provided us with some crucial information. As you can see below, our county has spent over one million dollars funding cameras that are a direct threat to our privacy and safety. The city of Vero beach has spent over $50,000
RESPONDING TO SOME CONCERNS:
Many people thoroughly read up on this issue and understood the implications of Flock cameras, but there were some issues raised in the comments of our post.
One of the most common rebuttals was along the lines of: “Flock cameras have helped catch criminals in our county, if you’re not doing anything wrong, then there’s nothing to worry about.”
To that we say, regular security cameras have been accomplishing that for decades. The real issue with these flock cameras is that ANYONE can access them. Citizens can get into these cameras and use the information for nefarious purposes. The federal government can and has used this information to track protestors, undocumented individuals, and other at-risk groups of people. Conveniently, the Trump administration has just implemented a counterterrorism strategy that targets “extremist transgender ideology” and “violent left-wing extremists”.
This isn’t about not wanting to protect the community from crime; our law enforcement has done a great job at this long before the implementation of Flock systems. This is about not having community members end up on a terrorist registry for exercising their freedom of speech, receiving gender affirming care, abortions, or having political bumper stickers.
WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT?
We urge you to show up to our City Council or County Commission meetings and fight for what’s right. Demand that we do away with the Flock system and/or employ strict security audits for all surveillance countywide.
After learning about how much local law enforcement departments spend on these systems, pressure on them is a priority.
Click here for a comprehensive toolkit with all of the information you need to act in an informed manner, call the people in charge, and become well versed on this issue.