Jailed Flock vandal wipes out three cameras, racks up thousands in damages

Note to privacy-conscious vandals: If you're going to destroy Flock license plate readers, make sure you also take out the other CCTV cameras in the area that could catch you in your crime. Otherwise, you'll end up like one unlucky Californian. Marcus Bee, 40, was arrested by the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday, …

[Blazde]

Will we next create false gods to rule over us?

Probably, yes

[JLV]

> Jailed Flock vandal wipes out ..., racks up

After he was jailed? From jail? You'd think they'd be watching him more closely while he was in jail. Surveillance cameras, anyone?

[the Jim bloke]

Jail surveillance cameras dont work.

See Epstein... or not..

[the Jim bloke]

A Downvote !!

is someone concerned that if Trump sees Epsteins name appearing in print again, he will start another war ?

[Anonymous Coward]

From Jail ...

... navigate your web browser to "www.ilovefluffybunniesandworldpeace.com". Click "Options" dropdown. Select "Ping of Death". At the prompt, enter camera DNS name or IP address. Click the "Go" button.

Website sends the Chinese-built web-camera an image of a rubber duck. Camera explodes. Job done.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: From Jail ...

Boohoo! That brilliant URL does not exist!

Although the carbon unit approach is approvingly efficient, the always present shoddiness of products like this ("Maximise margin so eventual IPO has optimal yield") makes it they can be "explored" less physical, apparently quite easily. Benn Jordan had some great fun with this. And although I am not in the Orange-19th-Hole-Sphere-Of-Piles I must admit that it also looks pretty much like a rules "for us" and "them" kind of situation to my non USian eyes.

[AnotherMrC]

Denial isn't refutation

Once every few years somebody uses 'refute' when they should have used 'rebut', if they really think that word makes them sound more convincing. I don't refute you claiming I can't fly just by saying I can fly, any more than the police refute a claim about usage of Flock cameras by saying "trust me, bro"

[retiredFool]

Re: Denial isn't refutation

Yep, saw this in the news a few days ago. And now the guy resigned. https://abc13.com/post/baytown-police-officer-investigation-allegedly-misusing-flock-cameras-resigns-chief-john-stringer-says/19602683/

I'm curious which happens more often. A flock camera solves a crime, or a flock camera allows an officer to commit one.

[VicMortimer]

Re: Denial isn't refutation

ACAB, so....

[Phil O'Sophical]

Re: Denial isn't refutation

> Once every few years somebody uses 'refute' when they should have used 'rebut'

Once every few days, ITYM.

[midgepad]

Re: Denial isn't refutation

Or indeed they deny, dispute, say.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Denial isn't refutation

Worse, sometimes "refute" is used where a simple "disagree" or "deny" would be more appropriate ... and where there is not even any attempt to provide evidence, merely a "I completely refute those claims" statement. Sadly, I think the proper/original usage of "refute" -- which requires /proof/ -- is an understanding lost to common discourse.

[Anonymous Coward]

Dumb Ass

Anyone with any brains knows the way to take out cameras is with drones that can spray paint over the camera lenses, not by being a meatbag and doing it yourself. Drones also don't need ladders to climb poles, nor do they care about falling from heights. And of course, it's a heck of a lot easier to conceal one's identity if you are far away and have your drone take off and land from some place of concealment that you are not located at.

[DS999]

Re: Dumb Ass

Sounds like you have this all figured out. Do you have a gofundme taking donations in exchange for zip codes to target?

[47ufCapacitor]

Re: Dumb Ass

Nothing beats the smell of a Sawz-All cutting aluminum in the morning

[aardvarkus]

Re: Dumb Ass

Plasma torches are fun.

[seven of five]

Re: Dumb Ass

As are shaped Thermite charges.

[VicMortimer]

Re: Dumb Ass

I'm thinking laser welder would be ideal.

[CorwinX]

Re: Dumb Ass

Thermite can deal with a lot of irritations.

And it's sparkly. ;-)

[CrazyOldCatMan]

Re: Dumb Ass

Thermite can deal with a lot of irritations.

We melted the (tile) ceiling at school in our A-level chemistry lab using thermite..

We had a lab tech who had the nickname of "some more" because his constant phrase was "oh - just put a bit more in". Were doing the lesson on thermite (in the lab) and the teacher had left us with the lab tech to actually do the practical.

We got him to change the small crucible that we were supposed to be using to a (much) larger one - after all, if thermite is fun, you want the most fun available right?

Large crucible suitably loaded, we lit the mag strip igniter and retreated behind the asbestos [1] shields to watch.

It burned, enthusiastically. The crucible shattered and the heat was so intense that the overhead fibre-board tiles got charred through (they were designed to be heat-resistant, not fireproof..)

So, after that lesson, about 10 ceiling tiles (plus the bracing and metal strips used to hold them in place needed to be replaced), one lab bench needed replacing (the large hole almost burnt through the surface meant it was no longer usable) and the lab tech had a new bunch of friends for life. Who (corporately) agreed that we'd, while his back was turned, redone the experiment ourselves, thus absolving him of a potential industrial tribunal.

[1] It was the very early 80's. We had these big stonelike mobile barriers that we were supposed to hide behind if there were dangerous reactions being performed. Health and Safety had got that far but not to the extent of worrying about the asbestos content.

And then there was the other time that I managed to juggle and then drop a bottle of concentrated ammonia on the way to the fume cupboards. Went all over the floor (I managed to jump mostly out of the way and it only splashed my shoes.. That made the lab unusable for a week while it was cleaned up.

And the time where we filled 1 litre soft drink plastic bottles with hydrogen and oxygen mixture, lined them all up on lab stools facing into the lab where the first years were having their chemistry lesson, opened the door and lit the tapers that were stuck into the open end of the bottles. Which promptly went bang and acted like rockets shooting into the lab.

I'm sometimes amazed that I actually got to stay to take my A levels. Mind you, I failed most of them (I passed my O levels with very good grades with just a bit of memorisation the week before the exams - sadly didn't work for A levels..).

Ho hum. I'm older now but not necessarily wiser :-)

[YetAnotherXyzzy]

Re: Dumb Ass

How do these wonderful stories not have more upvotes? Here, have a pint.

[jvf]

Re: Dumb Ass

First legitimate use of drones I’ve come across.

[Ace2]

Does he have a GoFundMe? Or a Patreon?

[the Jim bloke]

If Flock cameras are used to solve crimes

Does destroying them make the vandal an accessory to 'all' unsolved crimes?

[wiggers]

It's all about metadata

As Gordon Welchman (Hut 6) first twigged, metadata is king. Surveillance is all about joining the dots even if each dot is seemingly meaningless.

Good article here: https://www.newsweek.com/map-shows-flock-camera-locations-every-state-growing-backlash-12248033

Quote: Flock said in a recent blog: "Flock ALPRs do not and cannot track vehicles, much less individual people. ALPRs take a point-in-time image of the rear of vehicles on public roadways. They are incapable of tracking the whole of anyone’s movements."

[MattieD]

Re: It's all about metadata

Strong use of weasel words there from Flock. They're technically correct in that 'Flock ALPRs do not and cannot track vehicles' - all the tracking is done by the system the data is uploaded to. The camera is merely a data provider.

By focusing on the camera, it distracts away from the role of the back-end system. It's magician-style misdirection.

[jvf]

Re: It's all about metadata

True that, but it's a start.

[mark l 2]

"Flock’s spokespeople have repeatedly condemned the cases of camera vandalism, highlighting the risk of losing evidence that could be crucial to solving ongoing criminal cases"

Surely the evidence is not stored on the actual camera but on a server in some data centre, so the camera getting vandalized is not going to delete data its already captured. And i don't class the fact that the camera could potentially have provided evidence IF if hadn't been damaged as 'losing evidence', as you can't loose something you never had to begin with.

[Anonymous Coward]

Wyze

Agreed. If a $35 Wyze camera can upload to the cloud in real time, surely an overpriced copy sold to the cops can do the same. Those $35 cameras already do image identification of object such as people, pets and vehicles. Everyone should go on the Wyze forum and suggest license plate lookup be added. That alone will destroy Flock's business model if Wyze implements it.

[Pascal Monett]

"public safety infrastructure"

Ha. Ha. Ha.

The only legal and acceptable reason for a camera on a street to take pics of a license plate is if that car is speeding or running a red light.

And, if I'm not mistaken, speeding is a misdemeanor, not a crime (okay, depending on how much you're exceeding the limit).

Anyway, Flock is not just concerned with traffic violations. The Wiki article about them clearly states :

Flock Safety's network consists of cameras, image recognition, and machine learning, which share data with police departments

So you're not there for traffic safety. You're there for Big Brother and reaping money while pointing dubious data towards people who haven't done anything wrong (yet).

Maybe that's why you boast of performing "over 20 billion scans of vehicles in the U.S. every month". There aren't that many criminals in the US (outside of Washington D.C., of course).

I'm not surprised that Flock CEO Garrett Langley proclaims that "there are no legal issues, and he doesn’t foresee any arising in the future".

Of course you don't. You have friends in high places that will smooth over any legal issues that may arise.

[Cliffwilliams44]

Re: "public safety infrastructure"

Wait, you are against a camera taking pictures of vehicles as they drive down the highway, which nothing is done with until a specific vehicle is being searched for in conjunction with a crime.

But I'm guessing (and I'm sure I am right), they you would be perfectly fine with armed goons going to ever house in the US and confiscating their firearms!

As far as those employed to use the systems using it for personal benefit, if you hired ethical and professional people instead of using race and gender as your hiring criteria maybe these incidences would drastically decrease. ^

^ And yes, if you look at the evidence of these occurrences of these types of events the majority of the time it IS them!

[disgruntled yank]

Re: "public safety infrastructure"

If you are sure you are right, why bother with the modest "guessing" part?

I knew a fellow, quite competent by all accounts, and of impeccably Irish surname and face, who once spoke of his days as helicopter pilot for the police, when on spotting a strange car in an ex-girlfriend's driveway he had noted down the number and had a buddy run the information. He had also learned the name of his wife through friends on another law-enforcement agency.

All this is long covered by statutes of limitations, and indeed the gentleman is dead.

Are male and Irish EEOC categories?

[Wade Burchette]

The irony

There are no Flock cameras at the secret Flock HQ in Georgia and at their secret warehouse also in Georgia. And, by the way, if you find their HQ or secret warehouse and show up with a camera recording them, they don't like it. It is acceptable for them to record us, but not for us to record them. The irony.

https://www.facebook.com/GAFollowers/videos/flocks-new-secret-hq-at-3284-northside-pkwy-atlanta-ga-in-the-medici-buildingadd/25534471676250406/

Always remember what Benjamin Franklin said: 'Any one who would trade a little bit of liberty for a little bit of security will deserve neither, and lose both.'

[Anonymous Coward]

Flock off!

And you know where you can stick your camera.

[Korev]

Otherwise, you'll end up like one unlucky Californian.

He chose to do something naughty and got caught, had he been a good boy or was a more competent vandal then nothing would have happened...

[Slow Joe Crow]

Battery powered angle grinders are game changers for both bicycle thieves and privacy advocates. I can also suggest glass etching products for camera windows since paintball dye can be cleaned off. Alternatively several common solvents will fog polycarbonate and there's the hero sitting in his lawn chair holding a piece of carboard on a stick in front of a camera

[CrazyOldCatMan]

I can also suggest glass etching products for camera windows since paintball dye can be cleaned off

I suggest reading "Wasp" by Eric Frank Russell.. Lots of creative ways to cause loss of morale in the enemy. My favourite? A transfer that sticks to a vehicle windscreen expressing non-patriotic messages ("Death to Putin" "Free Ukraine" etc etc). When the innocent vehicle owner tries to scrape or wash the sticker off, it activates tiny acid capsules that permanently etches the message into the vehicle windscreen.

Sneaky. I like it. Maybe I'll get something equivalent for people who park in Blue Badge spots without actually having a Blue Badge..

(For USAinians - the Blue Badge is a scheme that creates reserved, wider parking spaces close to the entrance of things like supermarkets. The idea being that those of reduced mobility (like me) can park in those spots and display their Blue Badge to prove they are eligible.

The problem is that chavs and other assorted scum think it's fine to park there too - even though they don't have a Blue Badge because "it's a bit hot and I can't be bothered to walk the extra 50m".

My local council has a traffic warden that does the rounds of their car parks, ticketing people parked in Blue Badge slots without displaying a badge.

[O'Reg Inalsin]

Constructive alternatives to anarchistic vandalism

Alternatives to Flock Safety for Municipal Camera Networks and Privacy‑Friendly Options

https://factually.co/product-reviews/automotive/alternatives-flock-safety-municipal-camera-networks-privacy-friendly-options-1736d4

It's actually good capitalism to encourage competition, and very constitutional to protect privacy. And don't forget, freedom from getting carjacked is a real freedom too. Support the alternatives.

[Eric 9001]

Re: Constructive alternatives to anarchistic vandalism

No matter what spying functionality cameras have, that will do absolutely nothing to stop carjackings, as surveillance cameras aren't going to stop a criminal from carjacking a car (the only thing a criminal thinks about cameras is what they'll do to ensure that they won't get caught).

Some carjackings are for the purpose of joyrides - why would a criminal care about cameras, when they can mask up, carjack, joyride, dump/crash the car and leave long before the police show up?

Surveillance cameras can be used to prosecute crimes at most, but that is dependent on the police actually bothering to take a break from going after innocents and go after criminals instead (I've heard of many cases of CCTV footage of crimes likely being available, but the police not bothering to go and get it, as well they're too busy harassing innoccents).

The only technology that will grant you freedom from getting carjacked is a gun. Most carjackers will change their mind and run when seeing the ultimate; "how about no?".

<sarc>If the carjacker has a gun too, well they still won't like their chances against your wife, kids and dog armed to the teeth.</sarc>

[midgepad]

Who will surveill the surveilleurs?

[Gavsky]

The 1984 brigade have a paranoid concern that BB is (or, will be) watching their every move. In reality, nobody gives a monkey's about them, which applies to most of us - most of the time. It's criminals who should be paranoid.

[Eric 9001]

It's not paranoia if you're correct.

You contradicted yourself - if "nobody gives a monkeys paw about them", then why the active surveillance efforts?

If there wasn't a care, there would be no care to surveil.

Surveillance is primarily about going after innocent people for wrongthink, or even; "computer says wrongthink" - real criminals can rest easy knowing that almost all resources have been diverted into going after innocents.

0.01% of the time there may be a criminal caught as a treat (that likely could have been caught with standard police work) - but the negative 99.99% of the time, clearly far outweighs the 0.01% of the time.

[wolfetone]

"Police allege Bee caused thousands of dollars’ worth of damage to “public spying infrastructure.”"

FTFY.