LIVING HERE
What are these cameras showing up in our local communities?
Elkhorn is the newest community to join in the Flock Camera system. Flock Safety cameras are automatic license plate reader (ALPR) cameras designed to help law enforcement and communities solve and prevent crime by capturing vehicle data, including license plates and other identifying characteristics, and sending real-time alerts to law enforcement when a vehicle of interest is detected. They use artificial intelligence to read license plates and identify other distinguishing visual characteristics of vehicles. The data collected is stored in a searchable database and compared with the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) and local police watchlists. The system sends alerts to law enforcement when a vehicle associated with a stolen car, a missing person in an AMBER or Silver Alert, or a wanted suspect is detected. Flock Safety cameras can be used by law enforcement, businesses, property managers, and schools to protect their areas from crime. At its March 17 meeting, the City of Elkhorn Common Council voted 5-0 in favor of increasing the Elkhorn Police Department budget by $6,300 for software maintenance services this year to obtain two additional Flock cameras, a purchase made possible thanks to the continued partnership and donation of a local business.
Captain Alvin Brandl explained that the business owner wanted to continue its partnership and provide $6,000 in 2025 and 2026 to the camera program, essentially paying for two of the city’s four Flock cameras, located at the Highway 67 and I-43 interchange. That these cameras may well be a huge violation of every potential citizen’s privacy is being overlooked as American communities grow ever more fearful while crime continues to spiral downward now for decades in a row. At what point, when the police and businesses know where every citizen is at every second, is it going to mean that the definition of being a free human being will have to be changed? Instead of casually assuming that this new citizen intrusion device is there to fight crime, the public might just start considering how their own lives might be horribly changed by the indiscriminate use of such information.
