Suburbs

Flock cameras are getting a lot of attention lately, from the criticism about privacy to a Big Brother scenario to an efficient crime-fighting tool.

And, I suppose all of those are valid concerns. The devices can certainly fall into any of those categories.

We have written about the license plate readers a couple of times in recent weeks; once about the overall use in Memphis and the suburbs and another on a report to the Lakeland Board of Commissioners about the cameras in that city.

The debate has spread across the nation and even into the statewide gubernatorial race. Independent challenger David Hatley has made the Flock cameras a campaign issue, complete with a “Get the Flock out of Tennessee” slogan.

“That’s not safety; that’s surveillance,” Hatley says in his campaign ad.

And that is the conflict with Flock cameras, right? Are they a benefit to law enforcement? Or are they invasion of a person’s privacy?

Given the number of cameras on stores, traffic signals, Ring devices on homes and gosh knows where else, it is hard to say privacy exists in public. To me, it’s a valid argument that if you are in public, you have little or no expectation of privacy.

And, look, I’ve benefited from Flock cameras. The authorities called one day to ask if I had been involved in a crime in another part of town. Unbeknownst to me, someone had taken my license plate, put it on another car and committed an illegal act about as far away from my home as possible in Shelby County.

The authorities -- by a Flock camera -- had seen my tag on my car a couple of days earlier and could verify I was in my neighborhood. So I didn’t have to defend myself before a grand jury.

Frankly, I didn’t even know the cameras were in the spot where the cops verified me. And before they called, I had no idea that someone stole my tag.

There is the argument that if you aren’t doing anything wrong, why would you worry about the cameras? And there is the reality that the Flock cameras are just one aspect of the electronic eyes always trained on the public.

But there also is an Orwellian aspect to it. That Big Brother is always watching everything you are doing. That while maybe you shouldn’t anticipate privacy when you are driving on a public street with thousands of other cars, you also don’t expect someone, somewhere peering at your every movement.

Then there are the reports of an officer or authorities misusing the technology to stalk an ex-spouse or a domestic associate. Such instances create fodder for the camera opponents.

With all of the cameras around pointing in every direction, it seems a bit naïve that someone could expect “privacy” when they are walking or driving down the street or along a sidewalk.

And, law enforcement using the technology to catch a criminal doesn’t seem like an invasion. It comes across more as an informant tool.

I understand that it is a bit simplistic, but if you aren’t doing anything wrong … - Suburbs editor Clay Bailey

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