From Newsgroup: alt.privacy

Vandals have been damaging rCo or outright stealing rCo license
plate-reading cameras in numerous Minnesota cities of late, including
one that was swiped from atop a 10-foot-tall pole in Faribault,
officials said.

Flock cameras have ignited a privacy debate and faced pushback from
officials and vigilantes in the Twin Cities and around the country, in
part over their use in immigration enforcement.

Justin Lee Campbell, 42, was charged in Rice County District Court with interference with emergency communications, a felony, and gross
misdemeanor theft in connection with allegedly stealing a Flock camera
from its mount last week just off Interstate 35 in Faribault.

Campbell, of Faribault, was arrested July 28. He appeared in court the
next day and was released on his own recognizance ahead of an Oct. 7
court hearing. The Minnesota Star Tribune reached out to Campbell for a response to the allegations. His attorney, Racheal Flock, declined to
comment.

Police in Winona disclosed on Monday that all eight of their cameras
were swiped after their mounting poles were cut down with a saw. Police
Sgt. Nicholas Quimby said an officer on patrol noticed Saturday night
that one of the poles was down, thrown into the weeds and its camera
gone.

That led the officer to check on the other cameras positioned along the cityrCOs major highways, and he saw there had been no activity from any of
them for the previous 24 hours, Quimby said. Police discovered they were
all stolen in a similar manner, the sergeant said. Quimby confirmed
there have been similar incidents recently over the border in Wisconsin.

Quimby said that either opposition to the cameras philosophically or a
desire to turn the components into cash rCLare definitely possibilities as
far as motive, but we havenrCOt been able to talk to any suspects yet.rCY

Also on Monday, the Duluth Police Department told the Minnesota Star
Tribune that it has recorded six times when its cameras were either
stolen or vandalized.

Edina police said its cameras rCLhave been vandalized a few times,rCY and
Eden Prairie said one of its cameras in the Eden Prairie Drive area had
its wires cut in May.

Also, the Anoka County SheriffrCOs Office said one of its cameras has been similarly targeted at Viking Boulevard and Baugh Street in Nowthen.

Law enforcement agencies for all of these jurisdictions have been asked
for further details about their incidents. Other than in Faribault, no
agency has reported any arrests.

Shortly before the Faribault camera was removed from its mount, Campbell
told a work acquaintance that Flock cameras rCLtrack him coming and
leaving the city,rCY according to the criminal complaint.

rCLrCyI think I might take one,rCOrCY he is alleged to have said to the acquaintance.

Automatic license plate readers take photos of passing vehicles and
store them with a time stamp, allowing police to track a driverrCOs
movements. The devices, while effective in combating crime, have raised
privacy concerns across the country over their use as a federal
immigration enforcement tool.

David Rivkin, architect of rCyMinneapolis Sound,rCO dies at 78
The Star Tribune has found law enforcement agencies in Minnesota and
elsewhere searched several Twin Cities suburbsrCO camera data and labeled
their queries as civil immigration enforcement rCo a mechanism used to
detain people in the country illegally who have not committed other
crimes.

Most of the searches were run on FridleyrCOs Flock Safety cameras, as
Fridley had looser restrictions on its data than other agencies. Fridley
now is among a growing number of Twin Cities suburbs restricting access
to its license plate readers, following the Star TribunerCOs
investigation.

Several suburbs had already restricted data sharing in recent months by requiring individual sharing agreements with other law enforcement
agencies and banning searches for immigration or other civil matters.

Reports from around the United States have bubbled up over the past
several months of drivers and others stealing or vandalizing the
cameras.

Last week in Monterey County, Calif., a 40-year-old man was jailed on allegations that he vandalized three cameras. The SheriffrCOs Office in
the coastal county posted photos that included one they say showed him
using his pickup truck to topple a camera mounted on a pole.

In St. Petersburg, Fla., Carl Gunn has been obscuring a camerarCOs view
with a sign atop a 14-foot-tall pole that reads, rCLDown with Flock
cameras.rCY

Gunn told central FloridarCOs Spectrum News 13, rCLI donrCOt like it because werCOre being tracked, and if werCOre gonna track us, thatrCOs against our constitutional rights. And I have a right to move about this country
free without somebody looking over my shoulder.rCY

Atlanta-based Flock Safety is the dominant provider of the cameras. The
company says it has clients using roughly 120,000 of its cameras in more
than 6,000 communities across 49 states.

rCLPeople have every right to make their voices heard,rCY Flock spokeswoman Courtney Terlecki told the Minnesota Star Tribune. rCLBut criminal acts
should never be part of that process. Damaging public safety equipment ultimately hurts the very communities this technology is there to help protect.rCY

When a camera is taken offline, Terlecki continued, rCLan investigative
lead can disappear, and a time-sensitive alert tied to an AMBER Alert, a missing-person case, or a violent crime suspect on the move may never
reach the officers who need it.rCY

On Friday, the American Civil Liberties Union issued a statement
contending that rCLcompanies like Flock Safety are quietly trying to build
a nationwide mass surveillance system. If there are Flock cameras in
your city, they are tracking, logging and sharing your movements without
a warrant.rCY

The ACLU statement included a link to its rCLGet the Flock OutrCY toolkit
with instructions on how rCLyou can join the movement and organize your community against mass surveillance.rCY

Faribault Deputy Police Chief Matthew Long said the camera that was
stolen has yet to be replaced. The city will be charged roughly $800 for
a new camera and another $50 for the cables that were cut, police said.

rCLThe camera was roughly 10 feet high,rCY Long said. rCLWe do not know for sure exactly how it was accessed.rCY

Long said his department has 10 cameras positioned at rCLmain access
points to the city [and] have been very valuable in a whole litany of
cases.rCY

According to the charges out of Faribault, a caller to emergency
dispatch reported that Campbell stole the camera. Officers went to the intersection of Lyndale Avenue S. and Highland Place and confirmed the
camera was missing and had been offline since 1:43 a.m. July 27.

The caller later told an investigator that Campbell brought the camera
into his shop on 7th Street and was rCLbragging about how herCOd taken the camerarCY and intended to take it apart, the criminal complaint read.

One of CampbellrCOs co-workers told police he saw Campbell take the camera
out of a backpack.

Police spoke with Campbell at his home. He told police he found the
camera in the road and said he didnrCOt know what it was and had no
intention of keeping it. Campbell led officers to his garage, where the
camera was on the floor. Its lens was covered with black tape.

https://www.startribune.com/minnesota-man-charged-with-stealing-flock-lic ense-plate-camera-as-similar-cases-surface-across-us/601874085
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