Flock Camera Vandalized In Cleveland Community
JOHNSTON COUNTY, N.C. – Law enforcement is investigating after a Flock license plate-reading camera outside a Johnston County business was torn down and vandalized.
The incident was reported Sept. 25 in the parking lot of Lowe’s Home Improvement on Cleveland Crossings Drive.
According to law enforcement, an unknown person removed the camera and damaged it.
The camera, valued at approximately $2,400, was owned and operated by Lowe’s.
Flock cameras are automated license plate readers capable of photographing vehicles and recording information such as license plate numbers and vehicle characteristics. The technology is used by law enforcement agencies and private businesses to help identify vehicles connected to criminal investigations.
The cameras have also become the subject of growing privacy and surveillance concerns in North Carolina.
Those concerns have included the use of cameras installed at Lowe’s stores. Earlier this year, it was reported that the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation had access to Flock camera data from Lowe’s locations in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia as part of a law enforcement pilot program.
Several North Carolina communities have reconsidered their use of the technology.
Pittsboro voted earlier this year to end its contract with Flock following concerns from residents about privacy and surveillance. Hillsborough previously canceled its Flock contract after town officials raised concerns about data privacy and provisions governing access to information collected by the cameras.
Law enforcement agencies have defended the technology as a valuable investigative tool for locating stolen vehicles, identifying suspects and assisting in missing-person and other criminal investigations.
Similar cameras have also been intentionally damaged elsewhere in North Carolina. Rutherfordton Police reported this summer that Flock cameras in that community had been vandalized and warned that damaging or disabling the equipment could lead to criminal charges.
No arrest has been reported in connection with the Johnston County incident.
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Patriot
Criminal, What are your issues with the Camera at Lowes?
Maybe they will soon realize that people around here take their constitutional rights seriously.
Good deal, give this person a ARCOM!
Good work
Yeah, you’d be a real screaming Patriot if they were looking for YOUR child or car.
Commit no crime, you’ll have no fear.
Thats right! Lets just make one big giant federal registry for all firearms and firearm owners. Yeah its extremely dangerous and prone to corruption but commit no crime, youll have no fear!
HA!!! Hahahahaha! Sorry, you’re wrong. Tons of people are being targeted by idiots with access to Flock cameras. Read some news. These cameras are NOT what you think they are.
If I’m not committing a crime……what’s the need to watch me? These cameras out in public are NOT to catch criminals. They are there to track citizens. These became popular during the Covid scamdemic to watch people who were not following government orders…….FACT
It’s possible that some day theses cameras might save life of the ones doing the destruction. I could give a R’s Ace if my plate gets a picture taken of it. If the solve crime I say put more of them up.
NOT!!!
So you’d be OK with the government putting a camera in your house “if“ someone broke into it and they could use the video footage to catch them?
Boycott
lowes.
Ill buy you lunch!
Thank you! I hate being surveilled…
So you guys are willing to give up your freedom for some so-called protection? If you are so scared of the world, get a permit and carry. What crime, someone hit your car or something as trivial as that? Lowe’s has had store-owned cameras for years, just not controlled by a group with access to your every move. We can always get video of almost every parking lot in the US, just not controlled by a company and with big brother (police) watching you. Such sheeple. I will take a damaged car rather than my privacy taken away. This is just the beginning so taking down these tracking cameras by Patriots.
If the police want to locate stolen vehicles perhaps they need to post the year make and model of the cars they are looking for. In a lot of cases they will also find career criminals that others turn in
It’s obvious many Americans have never spent time in oppressive countries. Russia, China, etc. are great examples. The entire argument of ‘do no wrong, have no fear’ is spoken only by a people who have never tasted real oppression. The recent Iranian attacks that took out the first three layers of Iranian leadership were primarily a result of ‘government hacked camera systems’ that monitored civilians and leaders for years. Americans, generally speaking, have become glutinous and soft. Our hubris will be our demise. Whatever comes our way, as a result of our willingness to cast away our freedoms, will be well-earned and deserved. Our WWII generation of grandfathers and grandmothers are ashamed of us, as they should be. (I challenge anyone reading this to fact-check me. I’ve lived in the regions and countries that I’ve spoken about. I fear the world my children and grandchildren are growing up in.)
This.
Call me a bootlicker idc but if you’re not committing crimes why are yall concerned with flock cameras? This could save someone a lot of grief if they’re loved ones get kidnapped or their car gets stolen. Yall are worried about surveillance when the phones you carry around everyday have been doing that for years now.
Always the same argument. We the people do not want this surveillance state. Idk why certain individuals think just because we have phones (which police need a warrant for) it makes it okay to have a tracking grid on the streets. 🙄
SCREW the surveillance state!!! Whoever did it needs a freedom medal. They are a TRUE PATRIOT!!! “Those who sacrifice freedom for safety deserve neither!!!
I understand both sides of this argument, but however the Supreme Court has determined that there is no expectation of privacy while in public. So, whether you agree with it or not it’s perfectly legal and will never stop. Just like a police K9 has the right to sniff the outside air of a car long as they have a legal reason to be there. There is no expectation of privacy on something luxuries or things we get to use on a daily basis.
One down …rest of them to go
There are two flock cameras, uncovered Bridge Road in archer Lodge. One is at the parking lot just before the bridge of the Greenway, and it is not facing the parking lot. The other one is at the light at the top of the hill where they’re developing the 55+ community… And again it is not facing the camera. It is facing the road .
if the government doesn’t trust me…… Why should I trust them? we are literally living George Orwell‘s 1984. If you haven’t read that book do so.
So we need to get rid of Flock cameras….have any of you noticed how just viewing things on Instagram, Amazon, FB, talking about something on your phone and wala…it appears on your feeds….do we need to get rid of our cell phones???..LOL..there is NO where on this earth you are guaranteed privacy. It is NOT against the law to have your picture taken while you are in public. Now inside your home, that’s different matter. All I have to say is suck it up buttercup…so don’t do anything wrong or cheat on your partner (I despise using that word) Big brother is already everywhere. A little late to be worried now.
You have a choice to use those apps and own a smartphone. You don’t have a choice having these ALPRs around.
Even if you are perfectly law-abiding, these cameras can and will be used against you. Have you noticed that stores are going to electronic shelf pricing? They can use data from the flock cameras as well as their in store cameras to track your movements around the store and change the price you pay based on the car you drive or the clothes you wear etc.
Everyone defending flock cameras with such a basic stand point obviously hasn’t done any research on flock cameras
Yes sir!
Whoever did it did the community a service. An actual real-life hero.
There is a constitutional issue regarding flock cameras as it pertains to illegal search and seizures. The cameras that are on the highway are not just looking at license plates. They are looking inside your vehicle to see who is driving or who is a passenger. Furthermore flock cameras are so technological that they can see items inside your car as well. This could be a violation of those constitutional protections. However, if these cameras are on private property and owned by private companies(such as Lowe’s, Food Lion, etc.) The Public use of those things is not guarantee. The article stated the camera was owned by Lowe’s so I may make the assumption that it was in a Lowe’s parking lot. However, if it was taking video images of public streets, that’s where they have a problem.
Haha good!