What. The. Flock!

~Anne Boswell

If you've been following the talk on the Flock cameras you're not alone, if you're new to the conversation, you're not alone.

Much is still unknown about the US's fairly recent implementation of Flock Cameras in cities and towns.

A Flock camera is a unique type of camera usually placed high on a pole on a city street. It reads your license plate number as you drive by it. It takes a photo of your car and records and time and location where it was noted. Police have been using them to help solve crimes. For example a red Ford Mustang was involved in a crime so departments can search a data base of all vehicles fitting that description recorded at that location. So, they can also see if it's a stolen car or not.

People who don't like these cameras say it's a privacy concern because the information can be kept a while and it can be shared with others. This is a violation of a person's fourth amendment right. The Fourth Amendment protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures by the government. It generally requires police to have a warrant based on probable cause before conducting certain searches.

The cameras can see where you've been and put together a timeline of what you do.

Like:

• went to someone's home every night;

• had a doctor's appointment;

• went to church;

• traveled to a particular person's house;

• attended a political meeting; or

• traveled across multiple counties.

Some people have been tearing the cameras down in their communities. There's something you can do to check to see if you've already been recorded.

You can head over to this website: https://haveibeenflocked.com/ and put in your information.

From websites we researched, it seems there are plenty of Flock cameras in Colorado already but most seem to be located in larger cities. However, a site we searched did show one in Lamar and one in La Junta. We were surprised to see two on this map in Fowler. You can see it for yourself here: https://maps.deflock.org/?lat=38.0371&lng=-102.5017&zoom=7.55

You can reach out to the police departments in those communities and ask a few questions. Here's where we would start.

Ask: How many Flock cameras does La Junta plan to install? Where will they be located? Who owns the data? How long will you hold onto that information and data? Just food for thought, it wouldn't hurt to ask the city council if they must approve the installation of the cameras, the searches, and the policies attached to the surveillance devices.

And if an officer uses the technology improperly, what happens?

Overall, the cameras could prove to be a useful tool in solving crimes and locating missing children but municipalities and police must find a way to protect the rights of citizens in their communities at the same time.

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