Posted on 08/05/2026 6:17:23 AM PDT by READINABLUESTATE
Winona police are investigating after all eight of the city’s Flock cameras were cut down and stolen.
It’s the latest city in the state to experience Flock camera theft or vandalism; cameras have been reported stolen or damaged in Duluth, Plymouth, Faribault, Edina and Anoka County.
Winona police say officers initiated an investigation on Saturday night when law enforcement realized there had been no recent camera activity.
Officers searched the locations of the Flock cameras and found the camera poles cut down near the base and discarded in the weeds, according to Winona police. The cameras were removed.
(Excerpt) Read more at kstp.com ...
a camera installed on a public sidewalk or road isn’t much different than a paid policeman standing in the same spot observing and taking notes.
The main difference is that the cost of the policeman is much higher.
“If someone you know is murdered or is kidnapped. You would suddenly love cameras being everywhere to help you find your loved one or catch who took or killed them.”
You don’t even seem to understand where the REAL PROBLEMS are with crime. Hint...people who do crap like above should already be in jail.
The Left counts on people like you to get their surveillance system set up...because you walk right into their trap, under the illusion of increased security.
The people supporting them are to invested in their fear of living in an actual free society, they want no risk in their lives, thing is liberty and freedom cannot exist without risk.
The eventual abuse of such surveillance far outweighs any case by rare exception used to justify them. Yes, people want to save the kids, but when someone starts making the claim “do it for the kids,” you can bet it is going to end up a very bad idea.
the most heinous excesses of authoritarian regimes have always been justified by being “for the children”
If the left is gonna help out with the removal of the flock cameras in my area then more power to them. These flock cameras are EVERYWHERE. Seems like it happened overnight.
I support cameras anywhere a cop could just as easily stand and observe and record in public.
in your scenario, can one bad actor use that camera shoved in your face to track your every movement in public? That has happened repeatedly by bad cops to stalk people.
If you fail to see how constant surveillance is an intrusion of basic liberties, then there is no conversation to be had with you.
I already stated clearly how such surveillance can lead to all kinds of abuse, go back and read the thread.
Which cop, the corrupt one who will entrap you? Which crime, who decides what the crime was, the leftist politician who now interprets what you did as some new novel way to violate the law?
Such surveillance is a power tool, it will end up as a tool of massive oppression, always!
You understand that’s not what they are being used for though right? They are being used to track people for everything. Many people have been mistakenly arrested due to flock cameras. LEO’s and others using them to stalk people. Not okay with that at all.
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Don’t bother. People like texasfreeper would just see it as something that should be tolerated because they have no problem being surveillance 24/7. Because catching a killer would be worth 3 or 4 other innocent people taking a fall. Not to mention the cops who have been caught stalking their ex wives and girlfriends with flock cameras. All that is ok as long as killers and murderes are stopped, which isn’t happening either. I can barely tollerate the naïveté shown by people who are ok with 24/7 surveillance.
“ I will never understand honest people who hate cameras.
criminals I get.”
Right…if you have nothing to hide, why should you care if authorities take a look around….you know, for your “safety”…
Seriously? Those cameras do much more than take photos. They are a direct violation of our 4th amendment rights and must be removed with malice.
Winona’s cameras were not stolen.
I support cameras anywhere a cop could just as easily stand and observe and record in public.
Yes there are perfectly legit reasons to surveil someone. But these cameras are being abused all the time. Remember these are not public cameras they are private. Then the company sells the information back to the city. But they can sell it to anybody. Just like Google can sell your viewing habits to anybody. In fact those anybodies don’t even have to be Americans. China can buy the camera footage. China can buy your viewing habits. Flock is just as much the CCPs cameras as your local police cameras or anybody else.
It’s not just the surveillance but the potential behind the system. Just as newer vehicles are reporting your driving habits to insurance companies, flock cameras are expanding the pressure on our constitutional rights to privacy.
A good site to follow is ‘carcoachreports.com’ where how all this will soon be tied together is discussed.
what people REALLY ought to be vandalizing and/or stealing are automatic speed and traffic light monitors installed by private companies that issue automatic traffic tickets ...
I read that as saying they found the poles, but not the cameras.
Straw man argument. Use the most dramatic example. Whiel there is some merit to your preposition, the vast majority, andim talking about 99% of these cameras, are and will continue to ne used for nothing more than surveillance of the populace ... hello, 4th amendment?
Sure there are instances where the Flock cameras have helped apprehend criminals, but at what cost in our liberty? I am disturbed that the data is being collected and stored by a private company who could distribute it at will for a price. Who is to say that foreign actors could not get this data or even become owners of the company. The so far indiscriminate use of this information by law enforcement is chilling. This constitutes warrantless surveillance. In times past it took a judicial warrant to tap our phones, bug a home or office or install surveillance cameras. Now law enforcement could easily monitor private citizens comings and goings by simply by calling up a data base. Imagine if this technology were applied to drones that could follow our every move and even peer into our homes. We could be rapidly approaching Orwell’s 1984 where Big Brother constantly watched everyone.
Have you ever considered that you might be watched by dishonest people?
If someone you love is kidnapped or murdered by a cop coming to arrest them on poor data from the Flock cameras, you would change your tune in a microsecond. You must not be related to Chrisanna Elser or Angela Lipps or Joe Felder or dozens of other folks.
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