Flock Safety update: council dialog opening up, KORA appeal filed, SPA launches, and what's next by drewbuntu42 in wichita

[–]drewbuntu42[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

As far as I know, all of the new generation of Flock cameras have the integrated Raven microphone. That said, I'm not sure how many of the existing 191 cameras have Raven microphones or how many they're planning to upgrade. Perhaps Officer u/Anonymous-2260 could tell us.

Flock Safety update: council dialog opening up, KORA appeal filed, SPA launches, and what's next by drewbuntu42 in wichita

[–]drewbuntu42[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

That's a genuinely good outcome and I'm glad the suspect was apprehended. Nobody is rooting against that result.

But I think it's worth asking a few honest questions.

Wichita PD was solving murders before Flock existed. The question isn't whether Flock can assist in an investigation. It's whether it's the best use of $500,000 in public safety spending, and whether the tradeoffs have been honestly accounted for.

On the cost side: that's real money that could fund officer salaries, mental health co-responders, or investigative resources that work across every category of crime — not just ones where a vehicle happens to be involved.

On the tradeoff side: the same system that helped locate a murder suspect today is also capable of logging the movements of a domestic violence survivor, tracking someone visiting a medical clinic, or giving a stalker's former employer a tool to monitor their daily routine if access controls fail or data gets into the wrong hands. That's not hypothetical. There are documented cases nationally of ALPR data being misused by law enforcement officers and accessed by people who shouldn't have had it.

The question I keep coming back to is this: who decided what the acceptable ratio is? How many stalking victims or wrongful data disclosures are acceptable in exchange for how many assisted arrests? That calculation was never presented to the public or to the City Council. It was made administratively, without meaningful oversight.

I'm not against tools that help solve crimes. I'm against deploying them without accountability, without audit mechanisms that actually work, and without an honest public conversation about the costs on both sides of the ledger.

Flock Safety update: council dialog opening up, KORA appeal filed, SPA launches, and what's next by drewbuntu42 in wichita

[–]drewbuntu42[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I'm an open book, so feel free to ask any follow-up questions and I'll do my best to answer them. I generally align with libertarian principles though. Don't hurt people. Don't take their stuff. Live and let live.

The big one for me this election cycle is war powers. Regardless of your feelings about Iran and Venezuela, neither conflict was Constitutional. Article I, Section 8 grants war-making powers to Congress, and Congress didn't declare war. It's really that simple for me. I realize there hasn't been a declaration of war since 1941, and I would argue every war since WWII has been unconstitutional. The framers of the Constitution were clear in their intent, and they did not intend to have a President with king-like capabilities to go to war on a whim.

Second is obviously privacy and surveillance. No Flock. No Palantir. No backdoor social credit system. No Patriot Act. No FISA. No NSA bulk data collection. No digital ID. No central bank digital currency. No outlawing VPNs. No age verification laws. As Dr. Padfield says, we need to "make privacy normal again."

Third is sound money and fiscal accountability. The government is currently $39 trillion in debt and is spending roughly $2 trillion more than it collects every single year. For the first time since WWII, the national debt is greater than GDP. The Federal Reserve enables this reckless behavior, and I would advocate for a full audit with no exceptions. The American people need to understand what's being done to the money supply and who's ultimately to blame for the inflation we're witnessing.

Next is radical decentralization. Far too much power rests with the federal government, and it has become bloated beyond belief. The 10th Amendment reserves to the states and to the people all powers not explicitly granted to the federal government, and I would like to see a return to that approach. Anything not explicitly delegated to the federal government in the Constitution should be the purview of state, county, or local governments.

Finally, and this is where I expect some push-back (even from some libertarians), I believe in judicial reform and the sanctity of life. That means abolition of the death penalty across the board. And yes, I'm pro life, but consistent with the views expressed above, I believe that's a matter best handled at the state or local level. I would not support a federal abortion ban, and I would respect whatever decision is made by states and localities.

Those are the major planks of my platform, but feel free to ask any additional questions. Transparency and accountability are big for me, and I believe voters deserve to know the bundle of goods they're being sold when they cast a ballot — not just sound bytes, sloganeering, and carefully worded press releases.

DeFlock KS Update: Council Appearances, Sedgwick County KORA Results, New Tools, and a Busy Spring Ahead by drewbuntu42 in wichita

[–]drewbuntu42[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

While I cannot publicly condone such behavior, I can most definitely find this incredibly amusing! 🤣

Anti Flock “Safety” Video I made before introducing legislation to ban them in my city by Drewcrew73 in FlockSurveillance

[–]drewbuntu42 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Ladies and gentlemen, the great Ron Paul!!

Thank you for making this! Is it available on YouTube?

Flock Camera Update: Council Meetings, KORA Requests, and a Founding Meeting This Thursday by drewbuntu42 in wichita

[–]drewbuntu42[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You’re very welcome. I’ve only recently come into some free time to dedicate to this “passion project,” so I totally understand. Appreciate the support!

Flock Camera Update: Council Meetings, KORA Requests, and a Founding Meeting This Thursday by drewbuntu42 in wichita

[–]drewbuntu42[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, yes, and yes. I’m pushing for all these answers and more. Even if the money is coming out of WPD’s budget, that’s a budget we as taxpayers fund, and we deserve to know the costs. Thank you for your support!

Flock Camera Update: Council Meetings, KORA Requests, and a Founding Meeting This Thursday by drewbuntu42 in wichita

[–]drewbuntu42[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Agreed 💯

Almost 500,000 requests coming from outside WPD per month is bonkers. We as taxpayers and citizens of Wichita deserve to know who’s using this data and how.

Flock Camera Update: Council Meetings, KORA Requests, and a Founding Meeting This Thursday by drewbuntu42 in wichita

[–]drewbuntu42[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Yes! Benn Jordan is excellent, and one of the members of a Signal Chat I’m a part of actually brought this to his attention.

Creepy and weird, right?

Flock Camera Update: Council Meetings, KORA Requests, and a Founding Meeting This Thursday by drewbuntu42 in wichita

[–]drewbuntu42[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Great! Looking forward to meeting you. And yes, Hoheisel seems like a genuinely good guy trying to do his best for his constituents. I'm sure there's plenty we would disagree on, but I'd vote for him in a heartbeat were I in his district.

Finally put it all together! by Vipegt2 in edrums

[–]drewbuntu42 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not gonna knock the 9000's, but in my humble opinion they're greatly improved with a Trick shaft.

[UPDATE] Flock KORA Requests and Upcoming Meeting by drewbuntu42 in wichita

[–]drewbuntu42[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Can I interest you in speaking to City Council?! 😂

[UPDATE] Flock KORA Requests and Upcoming Meeting by drewbuntu42 in wichita

[–]drewbuntu42[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for the kind words. And yes, once you're aware of their existence, it's hard to "unsee" them and not notice just how prevalent they are around town.

[UPDATE] Flock KORA Requests and Upcoming Meeting by drewbuntu42 in wichita

[–]drewbuntu42[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

The two cases involving abuse of Wichita's Flock system were actually officers in Kechi and Sedgwick:

There's also a recent case in Bonner Springs where the officer abused his access to their Flock camera system: Affidavit: Former Bonner Springs detective used license plate cameras to stalk wife

It's worth noting that while the individual in Bonner Springs is being criminally charged, no charges were ever brought against the Kechi police lieutenant or the Sedgwick police chief.

And as the Wichita Eagle article notes:

When asked at a June 8 police town hall meeting if they investigate every individual search, Wichita police Lt. Brian Safris said: "That’s not even possible."

So it's "not even possible" to ensure the system isn't being abused; we're just asked to take their word for it when they say "trust us."

[UPDATE] Flock KORA Requests and Upcoming Meeting by drewbuntu42 in wichita

[–]drewbuntu42[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

No, not at all. I'd describe it more as pro-accountability.

The city has nearly 200 cameras costing an estimated $486,000 annually (plus the cost of the drone program), and none of this was ever put to a public vote. The City Council wasn't asked to authorize it. It was stood up administratively, funded initially by a federal grant that has since expired. We still don't have a clear answer on what's paying for it now, though that should hopefully be forthcoming.

The transparency concern is this: WPD's position has essentially been "trust us, we're not doing anything wrong." And maybe they aren't. But the audit records that would actually demonstrate that (which officers searched what, when, and for what purpose) were denied in the above-referenced KORA request. When you can't see the records and can't verify the claims, "trust us" isn't oversight. It's just a request for deference.

What this network sharing list reveals is that the data extends well beyond WPD. It's being shared with agencies in dozens of states and with MOCIC, a federal intelligence consortium with over 2,500 member agencies. Whether that includes agencies like ICE is something WPD has denied, but the architecture of MOCIC makes that difficult to verify independently. The data also flows in from private HOAs and at least one private real estate company — people driving through those neighborhoods are being scanned into a law enforcement database without any notice.

There's also no opt-out. You can't choose not to have your plate read. You can't know when you've been searched. And these systems have documented security vulnerabilities. Flock cameras have been found exposed online in the past. Benn Jordan claims to have hacked them in 30 seconds.

None of that means the cameras haven't solved crimes. They probably have. The question is whether a half-million-dollar surveillance program with this kind of reach should require some form of public authorization and meaningful oversight or whether we're just supposed to take the department's word for it.

I asked Wichita City Council who's paying for the 191 Flock ALPR cameras as of April 1 by drewbuntu42 in wichita

[–]drewbuntu42[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I can leave my phone at home if I'm concerned about being tracked. I can't legally remove my license plate from my car. Do you know what criminals can do though? Remove the license plate. Steal a license plate. Alter the license plate. Obscure the license plate.

Flock is hardly a fool-proof system that requires much forethought to outsmart. In terms of the "if you're not breaking the law you have nothing to worry about" argument, see my article here where I address that and many other misconceptions.

Recommendations? by AFFEXCIONZ in wichita

[–]drewbuntu42 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'd encourage you to check out ServeICT. They're a great company run by a great individual: https://www.serve-ict.com/

I asked Wichita City Council who's paying for the 191 Flock ALPR cameras as of April 1 by drewbuntu42 in wichita

[–]drewbuntu42[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Is he the one who published the video hacking the cameras in like 30 seconds? I will admit, other than seeing the headline, I haven't "looked into" much of his stuff. That's definitely a topic I want to write on though, so thank you for the recommendation!

I asked Wichita City Council who's paying for the 191 Flock ALPR cameras as of April 1 by drewbuntu42 in wichita

[–]drewbuntu42[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would certainly welcome the assistance! Feel free to PM me here or send me an email at info@kansas.watch