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u/PersianGuy1470 6d ago
I've lived in Cobb most of my life (33+ years). Cobb County crime has always been historically low compared to other counties and national averages. It has reduced from 2014-2022 by over 6%. Why the fuck do we need these cameras? It's about surveillance of anyone who's not white (aka West Cobb). They conveniently only look at the past year or two and say "omg, crime went down 60%!" They fudge the numbers.
They are bribing our elected officials. Vote them all out. I plan on attending to call them out on their bullshit. Name and shame them.
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u/Lunabbg 6d ago
One is pointed at a synagogue but none pointed at the church right across from it
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u/Lethalspartan76 6d ago
Yeah one points to a gym I go to. I keep seeing them NOT pointing at cars but people…
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u/Louises_ears 4d ago
The company runs a manufacturing facility in Smyrna. I’m sure that has something to do with something.
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u/reyayer 6d ago
It sounds like they’ll just give false platitudes while not actually listen to any of the our concerns but we should still show up to fight against flock
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u/Doc891 6d ago
all the while taking pictures of people who come and their license plates on the way out.
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u/4LeggedGod 5d ago
Right. Notice the phrasing: they're presenting themselves as benevolently granting us an educational experience.
Everything about Flock flies in the face of the Constitution and American values, the mass surveillance is already being abused en masse, and the only thing I need explained to me is how these cameras will be taken down and the existing data destroyed.
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u/gagraybeard 6d ago
Yeah I’m not sure this is a good faith effort considering the public has had absolutely no input before it was allowed, installed and misused all at taxpayer expense
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u/ATLmattGT 6d ago
I was at the latest commissioner meeting and it was wild how an agenda item on the consent agenda related to a police grant didn’t mention any vendors or details about software. Every other agenda item related to transit, roads, water, etc. lists the vendors out.
So we bring it up and the item gets removed from consent agenda for discussion.
It’s revealed the grant is for 15 more ALPR’s from Flock and the software is for social media monitoring.
And it still passed 5-0.
Sigh…
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u/FckFlock 6d ago
Flock's main plant is in Cobb County on Mitchell Rd. It opened last year with tons of press and plenty of county officials on hand for the ribbon cutting.
We all know how this is going to play out, unfortunately.
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u/ltsouthernbelle 6d ago
“Safeguarded by the police department”?!?! They’re literally the ones abusing the technology!
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u/Lunabbg 6d ago
Cop in Cherokee just got arrested for using them for personal use for the last two years
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u/FckFlock 6d ago
That makes 4 total in Cherokee and over 50 officers statewide so far in 2026. There are rumors tricking out of APD that they might have found over 100. Unsubstantiated as yet.
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u/PaleontologistNo500 4d ago
Flock town halls, like days center town halls, are essentially pointless. They won't even pretend to listen and move forward with it anyway. If you make the mistake of asking an especially good question, you may find yourself in cuffs.
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u/Temporary-Grand-4610 2d ago
Several community town halls to say FUCK YOU! Love how they think you will be ok with it if you only see how it works.
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u/PickleManAtl 3h ago
I’m a geek and I try to keep up with tech as much as I can. I’m aware of how flock cameras work, and I’m fully aware that they have indeed caught a lot of criminals using them. I’m not opposed to them if they are used correctly. I think the biggest problem that we are facing right now is not the fact that they exist and that they are used – it’s who has access to them, and what appears to be an extreme lack of accountability and control over who has access to them.
There needs to be a very low number of people in each department that has access to these recordings, and they only need to be accessed when there’s a reason to be, and whoever is accessing them should be logged as to what they are looking at. The records need to be much more thorough than they apparently are now in most places. That is what needs to be addressed. You can’t just have anybody going in looking at the recordings, or having them have one of their buddies that works with them do it for them.
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u/livinlife_now2017 5d ago
How about no? The police department and elected officials work for the people...how about you ask what the people want?
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u/KetchupOnThaMeatHo 5d ago
I just want to remind everyone that the police don't operate many of the flock cameras. While yes they have access to the information from all of them, many of them are directed to be installed by other organizations. For example, the parks department is who requests them to be put in the parks and upkeeps those. All of them you see in neighborhoods are put up by the directive of the neighborhood HOA. Many of these are on prive property that the police didnt have anything to do with putting up. Alot of the finger pointing goes towards the police, but in reality many are directed to be installed by private organizations. Its a larger battle than just going after the police departments.
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u/Acrobatic-Hair-5299 5d ago
I know there's been some recent concerns and I'm not sure about all the negative side. I will say that sometimes you have to be careful with the media because you see a few reports and think there are widespread problems. Always remember with any technology there's always good and bad. Granted I'll be the first to say I'm not sure about all that stuff but I am sure about one thing. On the positive side these Flock cameras are an invaluable tool in identifying criminal suspects and apprehending them. Just speak with any police officer and they'll explain to you there are many many instances were they were able to identify a suspect and then apprehend suspects based on these cameras. One basic example would be in the past officers would be told by witnesses the suspects were in a silver 4 door car and have no other way to identify the vehicle, But now they may be able to get the identity of the vehicle immediately.
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u/FckFlock 4d ago
This is the list of police/police dept employees who have been caught misusing Flock data so far in 2026, usually to stalk someone:
4 at Cherokee County SO.
3 at Fayetteville PD.
5 at Albany PD.
1 at Dekalb County.
4 at Richmond County SO.
1 at Conyers PD.
2 at Habersham County SO.
6 at Savannah PD.
1 at Greene County SO.
1 at Echols County SO.
3 at Coweta County SO.
1 at Polk County PD.
8 at Dekalb County (suspended).
3 at Macon-Bibb.
1 at Dallas, GA PD.
1 at Milledgeville PD.
1 at Houston County SO.
1 at Stephens County SO.
2 at Hall County SO.
1 at Union City PD.
1 at Alpharetta PD.
1 at Covington PD.-1
u/Acrobatic-Hair-5299 4d ago
OK let's just take a random one let's say Hall County has (2) issues with Officers and Flock cameras. Let's assume you're right and there were two violations with flock cameras. But can you tell me the details and what actually occurred and what harm was done. Any violation is bad obviously but what did the Officers actually do with the information. Now let's say Flock Cameras during that time in Hall County help solve a homicide and maybe apprehend a rape suspect. In actuality it's probably a lot more than that but let's just say those two crimes were assisted by the Flock cameras. You would still say to completely get rid of Flock cameras based on this scenario? My point to making this post is that there may be issues with the flock cameras, but no one seems to really talk about the unbelievable tool it is when it comes to and apprehending criminals and solving crimes.
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u/FckFlock 4d ago edited 4d ago
You can't be serious, unless you're a cop or have a financial interest in Flock, in which case I have zero interest in hearing your opinion. Yes - completely get rid of Flock based on the rampant abuse THAT WE KNOW ABOUT. Who knows how much has been quietly swept under the rug? There's also the issue of Flock keeping and selling derivative data, which won't be solved even if every cop loses access. The entire system is irredeemable at this point - it needs to all come down, and Flock Safety needs to cease to exist.
You can look up the details on all of those incidents - there are numerous press releases, articles, and court docs about them.
Edit: you're either a cop or a former cop based on your post history. Your opinion is invalid on Flock.
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u/Mission-Driver1614 4d ago edited 4d ago
So using your logic, I find two things interesting:
- To your mind, law-enforcement, in the absence of flock isn’t effective, which goes against what 200
+
- years of law-enforcement in the United States? And around the world?
- you seem to feel it is appropriate for the government to
surveil
- us because “ what harm does it cause?”
How about all the people who have been falsely arrested due to identification on flock cameras? People have lost their jobs. They livelihoods their homes because an AI got it wrong.
And frankly, if, as you say, the measure of what is good and bad is whether there is observable harm, then what is the harm in destroying the cameras?
It’s only money, right? Our tax money, spent poorly and without our consent by city and county governments.
Furthermore, the flock CEO has opine that we must accept violations of our privacy for our safety, and that we are supposed to “compromise” in this regard. However, he was awfully upset when his address was recently made public. He maintains an expectation of privacy that apparently none of us are allowed to entertain. News stories, claiming that he was “targeted” by this action.
So if Garrett can feel targeted by strangers, knowing his home address, yet we are not supposed to feel targeted by the consistent and unconstitutional surveillance of our daily lives?
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u/Mission-Driver1614 5d ago
If they had an successful utilization of the flock Cameras to actually solve or prevent crime you know they’d have their media machine up and running those stories full bore…, and yet all you ever hear about is misuse and abuse of the system by law enforcement.
Flock isn’t about actually solving crime. It’s real time mass surveillance of the citizenry.
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u/Acrobatic-Hair-5299 4d ago
I would tell you the easiest way is just to talk to several police officers or detectives and they can all give you multiple examples of where it assisted in apprehending criminals and solving crimes. However from your post I think I can pretty much tell that your anti law enforcement and wouldn't have the guts or open mindedness to do that.
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u/FckFlock 4d ago
You're missing the fundamental point: I don't care if it solves a few crimes if it turns this country into a surveillance state as a result, so anecdotes from cops are totally irrelevant.
Also, why would I care about the opinions of police on this subject? They have a tool that makes their job easier at the expense of violating civil rights - of course they're going to support it. We have 100 years of case law that shows the need to constantly rein in the civil rights abuses of police.
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u/Mission-Driver1614 4d ago edited 4d ago
Not at all. I’m not actively anti-police, but I cannot deny that for all the talk of safety and success all we hear about is misuse.
The best they could provide in terms of flock, addressing crime is when they stalked a woman across several states who had an abortion, or the guy who drove across state lines.
If flock works the way that the police claim it does, then they have a tremendous PR problem. The only way that the rest of us are going to tolerate the invasion of privacy and our constitutional rights is to see some actual benefit for the collective Good. We have not seen it.
Instead, we get police officers stalking their ex’s.
As to your point about talking to police about flock and privacy concerns— you cant get them to talk to you. I was told I would receive a response from the chief of police regarding questions that I’d raised during a meeting about flock —guess what? I’m still waiting on that response.
This lack of transparency, and hostility directed at the citizens when we ask reasonable questions, only further the narrative that it is a tool to be abused by the police who are not held accountable for their actions.
Growing up, my entire family was law-enforcement. I grew up in it and around it, but this willful violation of our constitutional rights remains unacceptable.
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u/FckFlock 4d ago
Acrobatic-hair is either a current or former cop, so of course he loves Flock. I'm sure he'd also beat confessions out of suspects with a phone book if the courts would let him.
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u/Coldbeerplease 22h ago
Those that would give up sacred liberty for security deserve neither. Benjamin Franklin said something very close to that. If you are willing to have your every move tracked by the government you aren’t free!
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u/ATLiensinyosockdraw 9h ago
Cool. Can they put one in your house in case a criminal decides to hide out there?
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u/-E-Cross 6d ago
This is gonna have some fun video clips of people asking questions I bet