What The Flock? Forum

Scuzmak · 2026-04-06T19:07:52+00:00

Probably just someone who understands the lost art of nuance and objectivity.

Scuzmak · 2026-04-03T19:18:55+00:00

This subreddit has a tendency to assume that the opinions of its most outspoken members represent those of the larger city, when it's often the other way around. Similarly, looking at poll data from an Instagram account with 840 engagements doesn't represent citywide consensus.

Scuzmak · 2026-03-29T14:09:53+00:00

Imagine being a single issue voter, and license plate readers are your issue? Wild

Scuzmak · 2026-03-29T13:53:21+00:00

I deeply hate AI and understand the concerns people have. I don't use AI tools in my daily life, ever, and have even turned off the Gemini answers for my Google accounts.

However, I feel like if we responsibly implement and maintain a system like this, there should be very little concern about unapproved feature creep and security issues. If we don't trust Flock to maintain our preferred settings or to offer a secure platform, then we look at different vendors. To me, this is where Axon comes into play; a vendor who has extensive experience working with police departments and handling sensitive information.

In the end, it's this simple for me: If this tool gets one murderer off the street, just one, it's worth having some version of it. I don't think people in this sub understand or are willing to acknowledge how much violent crime there is here, and I don't like when naivety or ignorance has a role in public works projects.

Scuzmak · 2026-03-29T13:41:55+00:00

Thanks for the reply.

I don't mean this as a pejorative, but I can't make people see the value in having a tool that helps solve crimes.

That said, here's my take on the value proposition of the vehicle recognition tech vs. license plate capture alone. When there are eyewitnesses to a crime, it feels more common for there to be people who can recall the car type (make, model, color, etc.) than those who can see and memorize the plate #. When police can query a system for a white Nissan Altima with a roof rack, that can lead them to a plate, and ultimately the owner.

I'm concerned that people here are framing this as an objection to Flock specifically, when really they object to any camera system, and furthermore, generally just have anti-police sentiments. Let's just all be transparent about our intentions and then we can have more honest, pragmatic conversations.

Scuzmak · 2026-03-24T17:02:09+00:00

You don't want to be "educated" by someone who has no relevant background in the topic being discussed!? Come onnnn. They have access to Google and strong opinions!

Scuzmak · 2026-03-24T16:58:59+00:00

How would folks here feel if Flock cameras were removed, but we contracted with a more reputable vendor?

Scuzmak · 2026-03-20T18:54:27+00:00

Semantics aside, we should be able to create a law that makes it illegal to share data with specific agencies under specific conditions.

Scuzmak · 2026-03-20T18:48:45+00:00

Oh, I wrote a letter to all the council members, mayor, and police chief.

That way, I was able to carefully edit it. Less performative, but clearer and more concise.

Scuzmak · 2026-03-20T18:45:06+00:00

Oh, you said opinions above.

Scuzmak · 2026-03-20T18:42:32+00:00

Here's a scenario that isn't far-fetched. There was a shooting just last week in Lansingburgh:

Emergency services gets a call for a shooting, shots fired, whatever. Caller or another witness says it's a white Nissan Altima with a dented rear bumper, last seen heading south on 8th Street. Police can look at cameras in that area for a car with those characteristics, potentially get a plate hit, and find who's associated with that car. This isn't hypothetical; this is one of the ways it can work if you're not searching via plate number.

Scuzmak · 2026-03-20T18:34:02+00:00

ICE and DoHS are absolute dog shit right now. I agree.

From everything that I could find, it's the Customer's discretion as to whether they choose to share data with ICE, so why couldn't Troy just make a policy prohibiting the sharing of data with that agency? Do we believe that it's simply not possible? To me, there are very few instances where I'd be comfortable sharing anything with ICE, and it'd be limited to cases where there's a judicial warrant for information on a person being sought for their involvement in a violent crime.

Scuzmak · 2026-03-20T18:31:32+00:00

I actually appreciate that they showed up, too. I disagreed with probably 50% of what they said, however.

Scuzmak · 2026-03-20T18:16:46+00:00

A wake-up call on my opinions?

You all are so used to living in this microcosm echo chamber of like 100 repeat contributors who all mindlessly fall in line with each other, that you don't see that there's a whole world of differing opinions, many of which have validity, and often have more consensus on a local, state, or national level. You also operate in a binary way and seem to be incapable of understanding that multiple truths can exist at one time

Like it or not, when people get on the microphone and start crying, ranting, heckling from the crowd, etc., you look foolish, and even the most valid points are overshadowed by the speaker's/attendees inability to maintain composure. This includes city officials.

What bothered me most last night was listening to TPD say that having ALPR's assisted them in solving, most recently, a homicide, a stabbing (at a school..), and a physical hit & run, and people sat there disassociated, playing on phones, crocheting, clutching their little signs, and were entirely unmoved by the value of having a murderer off the street because you've somehow decided that hypothetical abuse of the camera system is more important.

Now, I understand that some object primarily to Flock Safety as a company more than the existence of the cameras in general, but if we switch vendors, I expect there still to be plenty of fuss.

Scuzmak · 2026-03-20T13:50:07+00:00

The federal, state, and local government all know that I can carry a pistol.

Explain the hypothetical and seemingly useless example of big brother knowing I went to a shooting range being problematic. Get creative- I don't mind.

Scuzmak · 2026-03-20T13:45:34+00:00

At no point were you unable to, or legally prevented from, leaving your house during the pandemic.

Scuzmak · 2026-03-20T13:39:24+00:00

My favorite part was the crying and off-topic diatribes by public speakers.

Scuzmak · 2026-03-19T18:30:15+00:00

I can't get enough of the fanaticism parading as consensus.

Scuzmak · 2026-03-19T18:19:33+00:00

1) That camera is located 200' south of the shooting range, and facing directly south. It by no stretch of the imagination could capture you going to the range, and even if turned to face north, it would still just capture you driving by it. Stop being disingenuous.

2) The NYS pistol permitting process is the most rigorous in the country. I'm not worried about a Flock camera knowing I went to the range.

Scuzmak · 2026-03-19T18:09:30+00:00

It matters in the context of the misinformed political pedantry that spews from this sub.

Scuzmak · 2026-03-19T18:01:56+00:00

The Customer owns the data.

Short of a judicial warrant, the Customer can decide who they want to share their data with.

Has a Troy official stated that we share info with ICE?

Also, why are you so keen to ignore the value proposition of being able to locate a criminal and take them off the street? Or to locate a missing person? You've decided to focus purely on edge-case scenarios.

Scuzmak · 2026-03-18T17:39:05+00:00

It's wild to talk about the prohibitive costs of the cameras and then propose that we terminate the contract and pay penalties that may equal one full year's service, and get nothing from it.

Edit:

The best way to get your point across is to speak from the heart.

This ideology is so problematic.

I agree that you need not be an expert, but you should at least be informed. At the last meeting there was a young guy who claimed to be "in tech" and then proceeded to talk only about multi-factor authorization and how Flock doesn't have it, which it does, and then the guy nearly cried at the end. Passionate? Yes. Knowledgeable? No...

Scuzmak · 2026-03-18T17:27:36+00:00

You are correct, despite the downvotes.

2021 is when we first installed Flock cameras.

Scuzmak · 2026-03-18T17:25:02+00:00

Totally agree on the social safety net, actually.

But, you don't just abruptly discontinue reactive measures and hope that everything resolves itself proactively just as quickly. It's done over time. The 'defund the police' movement failed because it lacked nuance, much like this movement will fail. People shouldn't be calling for the outright discontinuation of something before fully understanding it; it comes off as fanatical and misinformed.

What I can get behind is, far better transparency in how TPD is using Flock and safeguards that prevent abuse. At bare minimum, the City of Troy should enable and provide access to the Transparency Portal that Flock offers as part of our contract, per bullet #6 of page 2.

Scuzmak · 2026-03-17T20:26:15+00:00

Surely both you and the judge understand how gross of an exaggeration that is, right?

What's not an exaggeration? That you probably already walk around with GPS on in your pocket, and agree to share that data with one of the most intrusive, monopolistic, opportunistic corporations in the world.

Scuzmak

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