So much for the vaunted ‘accuracy’…
The controversy surrounding Flock cameras primarily centers on privacy and fears of a surveillance state. However, the cloud-based license-plate-reading system’s accuracy and effectiveness have also drawn scrutiny. In one particularly egregious case, an internal review uncovered more than 1,000 false positives over two years.
Police in Roseville, California, found that, out of 1,427 incidents in which the town’s AI-powered license-plate cameras flagged a vehicle as stolen or used in a felony, the cameras misread the plate in 71% of cases.
Full article, HERE from Techspot. h/t Stretch
Any time there is a ‘system’ like this, the potential for misuse is readily available, especially by those with full access. A number of officers have been caught and fired for using the system to cyber stalk exes, and others…
We’ve talked about this, among other things and the fact that Flock has this ‘gigantic’ nationwide database using AI to ‘flag’ people/cars/etc.
Except the error rates are ‘high’ to put it mildly. It’s pretty bad when LAPD is dumping them…
Yes, we have them locally, but strangely enough, I have not been able to find out ‘who’ is actually monitoring the two I found close to our little local burg. The SO claims they don’t monitor them…
VERY interesting…
But, having said that, remember, if you are on public property, you have no expectation of privacy…
Sigh…
Here is a very good article about false dichotomy choice.
A useful tactic that works well in lots of situations is when you want someone to do something that they don’t really want to do, you offer them two choices: what you want them to do and something even worse, thus giving them the illusion of choice.
The false either/or choice is: Either let the criminals run wild and free; or submit to
mass-surveillance (flock) to catch them.
Not having mass-surveillance and just enforcing the current laws are never mentioned.
Youcan buy (for cash, of course) a decent cordless sawzall for less than $60 at Harbor Freight. Battry and charger included. Blades are pretty cheap as well.
Those poles holding the cameras are not all that thick of material. Probably cut in less than 60 seconds.
Just sayin’.
I’ve spotted several of the cameras around town. Some are in positions that make a little sense as far as “likely place for trouble.” Sort of like having surveillance cameras near junk yards and in the mall parking lot.
Others …
Random question: Are solar panels stiff enough to break paint-balls?
If it is creating a data base, that data base can and will be accessed, and not always by the intended viewers. If they don’t put TIGHT controls on the system, then it is to be expected that miscreants with access to the system WILL use it to track former spouses or partners, and to think otherwise is foolish.
So: how do you store the info to protect the innocent, while still make it available to catch the guilty?
I don’t think the implementation considered that.
If the citizens were asked, I doubt but a small percentage would have wanted the surveillance, the cost for the camaras, and the fees for storage of the information. There lays the problem; money spent to chase dimes, when dollars are being wasted by the bureaucracy, and what most see as a violation of their privacy. A less polite society would be emptying pillows and looking for a tar kettle.
And Chicago still has not replaced Spot Shotter (a useful surveillance) letting bodies hit the floor without notice. We call it Government but it’s really individuals doing these things.
We’ve had no expectation of privacy since Snowden.
They were first? deployed in the Redwood City CA area. They got tossed. Worthless when the BG’s have vehicles or other wheels. The cops needed to be across the street for any possibility of catching someone. They tended to not be enthusiastic when they KNEW they were chasing armed felons with a history of shooting at trouble…
Not expected to catch in the act. What Second City Cop points out is that no one is calling in shots fired and people are dying that might have gotten medical attention in time otherwise. Quite a number apparently in the area previously covered by Shot Spotter.
I can see two groups that would be unlikely to call about shots heard.
Criminals, and imigrant Asians. Both for the same general reason: they don’t want to draw attention from the local government types.
black neighborhoods which makes it funnier that the black mayor cancelled the Shot Spotter and hasn’t replaced it with anything
The road to hell is paved with good intentions?
All- Concur with all the comments, and yes, Shot Spotter is still ‘down’ in Chiraq…because it pointed at the ‘wrong’ ethnicity…
I heard someone talk about a gun range that had FOUR of them basically pointed at the door.
There is a web site deflock.org that shows the locations of Flock cameras. The info also shows what percentage each company services. They also offer an app for getting routes that have the least cameras. If you zoom in it looks like you can see the direction the camera is pointed.
Late to post , but we have two out here in east BF where we live. Also the implications for truckers who may fudge their log books a bit comes to mind .
Old F.O. take a look at this clip of the sheriff in Polk County (Lakeland area) doing a stand up about how they caught a scum bag. notice the good sheriff said “We shot him a lot.” He is also the sheriff that after his deputy’s shot a cop killer 86 times, when questioned why the shot him 86 time,”That’s all the ammunition they had.