Oct. 2, 2026
Nearly A Dozen Mysterious Flock Cameras Leave Residents Feeling “Unsafe”
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RSS Feed Residents are demanding answers after a county in Florida discovered multiple Flock cameras that were not permitted, and have no known owner. It’s also unclear whether those cameras are actively collecting data or who can access it. Florida isn’t alone, several other municipalities have found non-permitted cameras on city property that no one has publicly claimed. Flock cameras have drawn recent scrutiny across the country over police misuse and privacy concerns, with many municipalities removing them and ending their surveillance.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
00:00:02
Speaker 1: Hey there, folks. It is Friday, October 2nd, and I always feel like... Somebody is watching me, but I just don't know who. And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. Yes, Robes, every time I hear about these flock cameras, I hear it's the police who are using them. They're tracking down criminals. They're finding people all over the country who have fled. That's what I hear about. And now you're telling me there are people watching me on flock cameras and I don't know who they are.
00:00:30
Speaker 2: Yeah, this is a scary, scary story. Flock cameras are already out. I mean, this is the part of the midterm elections. People are outraged about them. They want them removed. And a lot of states and municipalities are doing just that. They are getting rid of flock cameras because there have been documented cases of police misuse, privacy data being released. So yes, that's what we were thinking the concern was. The government is watching us. And in some ways, People are misusing that information and we want it to end. But now it goes beyond that. So as a part of this new wave of local cities, counties, governments getting rid of these flock cameras, St. Lucie County, Florida, They just decided, you know, we're going to get rid of all of our flock cameras. They thought they had 52 flock cameras. These things are permitted, they're registered, and supposedly we thought we knew who owned them and who was taking some of that information. Well, there were 11 cameras that they found that don't have permits, that no one.
00:01:41
Speaker 3: Has publicly claimed.
00:01:42
Speaker 2: It is unclear whether the cameras are actively collecting data. It is unclear who can access this information. And so what have they done? They posted notices at the camera giving whoever put it up there 30 days.
00:01:56
Speaker 3: To remove it.
00:01:57
Speaker 1: 30 days?
00:01:58
Speaker 3: I was like, why are you giving whoever... Put 11 cameras. This is just in one county, by the way.
00:02:06
Speaker 2: And if it's happening in that county, it's likely happening in a lot of other places around the country.
00:02:10
Speaker 1: Wait, and say, what are the ones they did identify and are taking down? Who are the users of all those? Those were government offices and the police department?
00:02:19
Speaker 2: Yes. So they were all documented at the sheriff's department, the police department.
00:02:24
Speaker 1: Okay.
00:02:24
Speaker 2: Because they're all registered and they all had permits. Well, now they found these 11 cameras and they literally have no idea. who installed them, who is operating them, and who's collecting the data from them. So they're going to start to put some plastic bags over the camera. But imagine if you are in the neighborhood where one of these cameras was found and located.
00:02:50
Speaker 3: What are you thinking right now? How are you feeling right now?
00:02:53
Speaker 1: Well, this is... These things are a little scary anyway. When you hear, they can just take a picture of your driver's or your license plate and can track you down. But the way these things have helped, Robes, in criminal cases, they're able to track somebody's movement. They're at this intersection now. Now they went here. Now we picked them up here. Robes, these things have been incredibly useful. However, the problem is, out of the hands of somebody who wants to do good, you might be able to track your ex-girlfriend.
00:03:24
Speaker 2: And that's exactly what has happened in some cases. You make that point. And actually, there was a specific instance of this in Fort Pierce, Florida. A police officer was arrested and imprisoned because, yeah, he was using the flock database from his police department 382 times to track his ex-girlfriend. And that's just one of several instances, noted, documented evidence. and investigated where you have police officers using this public or this, I guess, this police database system for personal use.
00:03:59
Speaker 1: I have questions about that relationship. When I saw it 300 and something times, like what the hell was it? Did he have time to do anything else?
00:04:06
Speaker 3: That's a lot, 382 times. Your ex, she's got to.
00:04:08
Speaker 1: Be terrified to think that he accessed and found your data.
00:04:13
Speaker 2: And where you've been and who you've been seeing and where you've been traveling, that's wildly frightening.
00:04:19
Speaker 3: And the Washington Post did an investigation.
00:04:21
Speaker 2: They say right now at least 50 law enforcement officials... are accused across the country of misusing flock cameras for personal reasons. That's how many they've found, at least 50 officials.
00:04:36
Speaker 1: You say personal reasons. It's probably almost all having to do with somebody they're dating or used to date. Correct. Exactly.
00:04:43
Speaker 3: And that's exactly what's going on.
00:04:44
Speaker 1: Women accused, female officers accused.
00:04:46
Speaker 2: I just see some men right now. But listen, there is one camera in particular. This one is insane. There was one unpermitted camera that was on a quiet residential street corner. Among the 11 that they found, it's just suddenly disappeared. And it's unclear who removed the camera, when they removed the camera, but the residents who were on this quiet, it's described as a quiet residential street, they assumed it was law enforcement.
00:05:13
Speaker 3: They saw the camera, they're like, oh yeah, okay, that just must.
00:05:15
Speaker 2: Be one of those flock cameras and they're tracking people. But now they are wildly unsettled, to use a word that just doesn't seem significant enough, to learn that county officials have nothing to do with that camera.
00:05:29
Speaker 3: They have no idea who installed it and they have no idea who took it down.
00:05:43
Speaker 1: I have a question. You used the word earlier, permitted. Yes. Are these required? Yes. So you have, if you're going to put up a flat camera, you actually do have to register it with a government agency.
00:05:53
Speaker 2: That is the law, or that was the law there in Florida. So yes, the neighbors are now saying, I feel very unsafe. And that's the whole irony because these cameras.
00:06:04
Speaker 3: Why is the camera still there, baby? No, it got taken down.
00:06:05
Speaker 1: Okay, okay.
00:06:06
Speaker 2: No, but it just disappeared after this report came out. And now, so whoever put it up thought, uh-oh, I'm going to get in trouble, so they took it down. But what were they using it for?
00:06:15
Speaker 3: How long had it been up? What were they doing with that data?
00:06:18
Speaker 2: Obviously, there are people who have figured out how to surveil areas for whatever personal reason, and they've been doing it undetected.
00:06:25
Speaker 1: Babe, they're going to have to shut this down. Because you just mentioned some very, I know private, you can have them. Nothing keeps a private citizen from buying them. And I believe, I don't know how expensive they are, but like homeowners, like neighborhoods and whatnot have started to buy them and put them in neighborhoods, like homeowners associations and whatnot. There is, Robes, some use there and some safety. But... Babe, just put up a surveillance camera. Why do you need the camera to read the license plate and be able to say exactly who that person is and where? That's different.
00:07:02
Speaker 2: This is not just a surveillance camera. It is so much more than that.
00:07:06
Speaker 1: If we haven't said that clearly, I think most people are starting to know what flock cameras are. These are not just regular cameras that record coming and going. No, they give very detailed data.
00:07:14
Speaker 2: No, and this is from an Atlanta-based company, and the company's name, ironically, because of what's happening now, is Flock Safety.
00:07:20
Speaker 3: Flock Safety.
00:07:22
Speaker 2: And the whole point of it, Flock Safety, is the name of the company that produces these Flock cameras. But yes, the whole idea was to have law enforcement be able to identify vehicles.
00:07:33
Speaker 3: Associated with crimes and investigations. We've seen it work.
00:07:37
Speaker 2: Actually, I'm trying to remember the case, but the dentist and his wife, who were murdered in their home when their children were left unharmed, they were able to track down her ex-wife.
00:07:46
Speaker 3: Husband drove back to Illinois.
00:07:47
Speaker 1: Yes.
00:07:48
Speaker 2: But they were able to use flock cameras to see his vehicle enter their neighborhood.
00:07:52
Speaker 3: And then they tracked him all the way back to Chicago.
00:07:55
Speaker 1: Was it the Brown university shooting too?
00:07:57
Speaker 3: Yes, that was as well.
00:07:58
Speaker 1: Yeah. These things have been amazing. Yes. Incredibly investigative police. That's a great tool.
00:08:04
Speaker 2: And yet because of all of these concerns, and by the way, Florida isn't alone, Cambridge, Massachusetts in December, they found two flock cameras installed without the city's knowledge of after it deactivated and removed its system for all the reasons why we've just mentioned, in Mill Creek, Utah, in September, so just last month, a flock camera was discovered.
00:08:24
Speaker 3: On city property.
00:08:25
Speaker 2: No one knows to this day who installed it. So now, as governments and as cities are starting to remove their flock cameras now, only now are they starting to realize that other people have been putting up these flock cameras and they don't know who, they don't know why, and they don't know for how long.
00:08:45
Speaker 1: Ain't this always the case with new technology? We got to figure out. We got to figure it out. Now, Rope, you were mentioning the St. Lucie, the ones they found down there. They put in plastic bags or something?
00:08:57
Speaker 3: Yep, they're putting plastic bags.
00:08:58
Speaker 1: Why won't they just take them down?
00:08:59
Speaker 3: I don't know.
00:09:00
Speaker 2: And they put a notice. They're going to start doing that. But I don't understand why or.
00:09:07
Speaker 3: How they can't trace this back. Can't flock safety tell them? Who bought that?
00:09:13
Speaker 1: Are they allowed to?
00:09:14
Speaker 3: They might not. Because that's what I'm confused by.
00:09:18
Speaker 1: Or do you sell them? Does Flock need to be a... Do you still need to have some kind of relationship with Flock after you buy the camera? Can you just buy it and go about your business? Or you need some kind of program or app or something? Flock knows who they sold these cameras to.
00:09:31
Speaker 2: Flock has to know who they sold these to. And look, right now, this is... This has become such a flashpoint. More than 150 U.S. communities have now rejected, canceled, or deactivated the flock cameras that they spent a lot of money and a lot of time and a lot of resources putting up over the past couple of years. But right now, there are still 130,000 automated license plate readers on American streets right now, as of this recording.
00:09:59
Speaker 1: Who do they belong to?
00:10:01
Speaker 2: To?
00:10:01
Speaker 3: I guess, and that is part of the problem. We don't know.
00:10:05
Speaker 2: This is all a part of, I think, the same notion or the same concern around AI. The technology can be used for good, and we see the good it's done, but I don't think it was properly vetted in terms of if this gets in the wrong hands. if the wrong person has access to this technology, the damage it can do. Yes, we know the good it can do, but what about the damage? When we come back, we're gonna talk about what our congressmen and women are doing on the federal level to try and stop flock cameras. Welcome back, everyone, to Amy and TJ. Did you know, I actually think, look, I would never typically give members of Congress this nod, but I do think the act, the way they named this act, this new bill, this new legislation, they're trying to now push through.
00:11:02
Speaker 3: The halls of Congress.
00:11:03
Speaker 1: Another good acronym?
00:11:03
Speaker 3: Well, it's not even an acronym.
00:11:05
Speaker 1: Oh, wow, okay.
00:11:06
Speaker 2: This is Republicans Thomas Massey of Kentucky and Eric Burleson of Missouri. They have introduced an act. They just did this actually last month. It's called the Flock Off Act. They're not usually cute and funny like that, but it did make me chuckle.
00:11:21
Speaker 1: I wonder if this one has any chance because it's the best named piece of legislation I've ever heard of.
00:11:27
Speaker 3: Thank you. Thank you.
00:11:28
Speaker 2: I agree.
00:11:29
Speaker 3: I was like, wow, I can't believe I'm going to give a compliment.
00:11:32
Speaker 1: And you know, Thomas Massey is the one out of Kentucky that the president targeted. He's been waiting to write down flock off for a long time.
00:11:42
Speaker 2: This one, the flock off act, was introduced September 2nd. So we'll see what happens. But obviously, leading up to the midterms, this is a huge, huge talking point. A lot of local politicians, especially going back to the community, saying I am going to, on a federal level, ban these cameras, ban this type of technology, and protect your privacy.
00:12:03
Speaker 1: This is an outright ban.
00:12:05
Speaker 2: Yes. So the bill, so the bill, no, it's not an outright bandit. This is how they're getting around it. The bill would bar federal funding for flock cameras and it would require any federally funded systems to be removed. So if anything was issued by funded by the U S government, this bill would basically remove that technology, remove those cameras and, and stop it.
00:12:30
Speaker 1: I assume that's a lot of police departments, baby. They've got federal funding to buy this stuff.
00:12:35
Speaker 3: Absolutely. There you go.
00:12:36
Speaker 2: So it would basically give state and local municipalities 180 days to stop operating the federally financed devices. So if they want to fund it on their own, through their own local governments, if their folks and The people who live in those areas want those cameras to stay up.
00:12:57
Speaker 3: They're going to have to fund it themselves. But anything that the U.S.
00:13:00
Speaker 2: Government funded to put in place, and you can imagine that's probably a significant number of cameras.
00:13:07
Speaker 1: Why we just won't pay for it. Keep doing it. If it's wrong, it's wrong. And ban it.
00:13:11
Speaker 3: You know how they go.
00:13:12
Speaker 2: They try to have to, like, I don't know why they needed to word it that way or have that be how.
00:13:18
Speaker 1: If it's a threat.
00:13:19
Speaker 3: It's being misused.
00:13:20
Speaker 1: That's the problem. If it's being misused, we don't want to pay for the misuse, or you just don't want the misuse?
00:13:26
Speaker 2: Maybe they don't know how to police the police from misusing it, and certainly it turns out we don't even know how to police people putting these things up on their own to use however they'd like.
00:13:38
Speaker 1: If you leave your car on the side of the road too long, you'll get that big, bright, neon sticker that says you have 48 hours and we're going to tow your shit. You can't take the camera down for 30 days? That's possibly collecting private information? They put a sign up.
00:13:54
Speaker 3: I don't understand. We don't know what to do.
00:13:57
Speaker 2: The technology got ahead of our ability to police it or to at.
00:14:00
Speaker 3: Least control it.
00:14:01
Speaker 1: Wow, sounds like AI, baby.
00:14:03
Speaker 3: Exactly. That's exactly what it sounds like.
00:14:05
Speaker 2: So this issue is not going away anytime soon, but this is just an exceptionally disturbing story out of Florida. But I think what makes it scarier is... is to know, we all kind of know, this is happening everywhere. This is not some anomaly that happened in St. Lucie County, Florida. They just found out because they were disabling all of the other ones. Imagine if the other 130,000 flock cameras are taken down. How many more were there? Where did that camera come from? Who's operating that camera? Who's doing what with that data that they've just now been able to collect?
00:14:38
Speaker 1: But they didn't even know they were out there.
00:14:40
Speaker 2: Nope.
00:14:40
Speaker 1: That's crazy.
00:14:41
Speaker 2: Wow.
00:14:41
Speaker 1: How many are out there? We don't even know. We should go get us a fly camera. Put it up wherever. See what happens.
00:14:45
Speaker 3: Yeah. Turns out everybody's doing it.
00:14:47
Speaker 1: And nobody's going to find out about it. Jeez.
00:14:48
Speaker 2: All right. Well, with that, everyone, we always appreciate you listening to us. I'm Amy Robach alongside TJ Holmes. We'll talk to you soon.
Speaker 1: Hey there, folks. It is Friday, October 2nd, and I always feel like... Somebody is watching me, but I just don't know who. And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. Yes, Robes, every time I hear about these flock cameras, I hear it's the police who are using them. They're tracking down criminals. They're finding people all over the country who have fled. That's what I hear about. And now you're telling me there are people watching me on flock cameras and I don't know who they are.
00:00:30
Speaker 2: Yeah, this is a scary, scary story. Flock cameras are already out. I mean, this is the part of the midterm elections. People are outraged about them. They want them removed. And a lot of states and municipalities are doing just that. They are getting rid of flock cameras because there have been documented cases of police misuse, privacy data being released. So yes, that's what we were thinking the concern was. The government is watching us. And in some ways, People are misusing that information and we want it to end. But now it goes beyond that. So as a part of this new wave of local cities, counties, governments getting rid of these flock cameras, St. Lucie County, Florida, They just decided, you know, we're going to get rid of all of our flock cameras. They thought they had 52 flock cameras. These things are permitted, they're registered, and supposedly we thought we knew who owned them and who was taking some of that information. Well, there were 11 cameras that they found that don't have permits, that no one.
00:01:41
Speaker 3: Has publicly claimed.
00:01:42
Speaker 2: It is unclear whether the cameras are actively collecting data. It is unclear who can access this information. And so what have they done? They posted notices at the camera giving whoever put it up there 30 days.
00:01:56
Speaker 3: To remove it.
00:01:57
Speaker 1: 30 days?
00:01:58
Speaker 3: I was like, why are you giving whoever... Put 11 cameras. This is just in one county, by the way.
00:02:06
Speaker 2: And if it's happening in that county, it's likely happening in a lot of other places around the country.
00:02:10
Speaker 1: Wait, and say, what are the ones they did identify and are taking down? Who are the users of all those? Those were government offices and the police department?
00:02:19
Speaker 2: Yes. So they were all documented at the sheriff's department, the police department.
00:02:24
Speaker 1: Okay.
00:02:24
Speaker 2: Because they're all registered and they all had permits. Well, now they found these 11 cameras and they literally have no idea. who installed them, who is operating them, and who's collecting the data from them. So they're going to start to put some plastic bags over the camera. But imagine if you are in the neighborhood where one of these cameras was found and located.
00:02:50
Speaker 3: What are you thinking right now? How are you feeling right now?
00:02:53
Speaker 1: Well, this is... These things are a little scary anyway. When you hear, they can just take a picture of your driver's or your license plate and can track you down. But the way these things have helped, Robes, in criminal cases, they're able to track somebody's movement. They're at this intersection now. Now they went here. Now we picked them up here. Robes, these things have been incredibly useful. However, the problem is, out of the hands of somebody who wants to do good, you might be able to track your ex-girlfriend.
00:03:24
Speaker 2: And that's exactly what has happened in some cases. You make that point. And actually, there was a specific instance of this in Fort Pierce, Florida. A police officer was arrested and imprisoned because, yeah, he was using the flock database from his police department 382 times to track his ex-girlfriend. And that's just one of several instances, noted, documented evidence. and investigated where you have police officers using this public or this, I guess, this police database system for personal use.
00:03:59
Speaker 1: I have questions about that relationship. When I saw it 300 and something times, like what the hell was it? Did he have time to do anything else?
00:04:06
Speaker 3: That's a lot, 382 times. Your ex, she's got to.
00:04:08
Speaker 1: Be terrified to think that he accessed and found your data.
00:04:13
Speaker 2: And where you've been and who you've been seeing and where you've been traveling, that's wildly frightening.
00:04:19
Speaker 3: And the Washington Post did an investigation.
00:04:21
Speaker 2: They say right now at least 50 law enforcement officials... are accused across the country of misusing flock cameras for personal reasons. That's how many they've found, at least 50 officials.
00:04:36
Speaker 1: You say personal reasons. It's probably almost all having to do with somebody they're dating or used to date. Correct. Exactly.
00:04:43
Speaker 3: And that's exactly what's going on.
00:04:44
Speaker 1: Women accused, female officers accused.
00:04:46
Speaker 2: I just see some men right now. But listen, there is one camera in particular. This one is insane. There was one unpermitted camera that was on a quiet residential street corner. Among the 11 that they found, it's just suddenly disappeared. And it's unclear who removed the camera, when they removed the camera, but the residents who were on this quiet, it's described as a quiet residential street, they assumed it was law enforcement.
00:05:13
Speaker 3: They saw the camera, they're like, oh yeah, okay, that just must.
00:05:15
Speaker 2: Be one of those flock cameras and they're tracking people. But now they are wildly unsettled, to use a word that just doesn't seem significant enough, to learn that county officials have nothing to do with that camera.
00:05:29
Speaker 3: They have no idea who installed it and they have no idea who took it down.
00:05:43
Speaker 1: I have a question. You used the word earlier, permitted. Yes. Are these required? Yes. So you have, if you're going to put up a flat camera, you actually do have to register it with a government agency.
00:05:53
Speaker 2: That is the law, or that was the law there in Florida. So yes, the neighbors are now saying, I feel very unsafe. And that's the whole irony because these cameras.
00:06:04
Speaker 3: Why is the camera still there, baby? No, it got taken down.
00:06:05
Speaker 1: Okay, okay.
00:06:06
Speaker 2: No, but it just disappeared after this report came out. And now, so whoever put it up thought, uh-oh, I'm going to get in trouble, so they took it down. But what were they using it for?
00:06:15
Speaker 3: How long had it been up? What were they doing with that data?
00:06:18
Speaker 2: Obviously, there are people who have figured out how to surveil areas for whatever personal reason, and they've been doing it undetected.
00:06:25
Speaker 1: Babe, they're going to have to shut this down. Because you just mentioned some very, I know private, you can have them. Nothing keeps a private citizen from buying them. And I believe, I don't know how expensive they are, but like homeowners, like neighborhoods and whatnot have started to buy them and put them in neighborhoods, like homeowners associations and whatnot. There is, Robes, some use there and some safety. But... Babe, just put up a surveillance camera. Why do you need the camera to read the license plate and be able to say exactly who that person is and where? That's different.
00:07:02
Speaker 2: This is not just a surveillance camera. It is so much more than that.
00:07:06
Speaker 1: If we haven't said that clearly, I think most people are starting to know what flock cameras are. These are not just regular cameras that record coming and going. No, they give very detailed data.
00:07:14
Speaker 2: No, and this is from an Atlanta-based company, and the company's name, ironically, because of what's happening now, is Flock Safety.
00:07:20
Speaker 3: Flock Safety.
00:07:22
Speaker 2: And the whole point of it, Flock Safety, is the name of the company that produces these Flock cameras. But yes, the whole idea was to have law enforcement be able to identify vehicles.
00:07:33
Speaker 3: Associated with crimes and investigations. We've seen it work.
00:07:37
Speaker 2: Actually, I'm trying to remember the case, but the dentist and his wife, who were murdered in their home when their children were left unharmed, they were able to track down her ex-wife.
00:07:46
Speaker 3: Husband drove back to Illinois.
00:07:47
Speaker 1: Yes.
00:07:48
Speaker 2: But they were able to use flock cameras to see his vehicle enter their neighborhood.
00:07:52
Speaker 3: And then they tracked him all the way back to Chicago.
00:07:55
Speaker 1: Was it the Brown university shooting too?
00:07:57
Speaker 3: Yes, that was as well.
00:07:58
Speaker 1: Yeah. These things have been amazing. Yes. Incredibly investigative police. That's a great tool.
00:08:04
Speaker 2: And yet because of all of these concerns, and by the way, Florida isn't alone, Cambridge, Massachusetts in December, they found two flock cameras installed without the city's knowledge of after it deactivated and removed its system for all the reasons why we've just mentioned, in Mill Creek, Utah, in September, so just last month, a flock camera was discovered.
00:08:24
Speaker 3: On city property.
00:08:25
Speaker 2: No one knows to this day who installed it. So now, as governments and as cities are starting to remove their flock cameras now, only now are they starting to realize that other people have been putting up these flock cameras and they don't know who, they don't know why, and they don't know for how long.
00:08:45
Speaker 1: Ain't this always the case with new technology? We got to figure out. We got to figure it out. Now, Rope, you were mentioning the St. Lucie, the ones they found down there. They put in plastic bags or something?
00:08:57
Speaker 3: Yep, they're putting plastic bags.
00:08:58
Speaker 1: Why won't they just take them down?
00:08:59
Speaker 3: I don't know.
00:09:00
Speaker 2: And they put a notice. They're going to start doing that. But I don't understand why or.
00:09:07
Speaker 3: How they can't trace this back. Can't flock safety tell them? Who bought that?
00:09:13
Speaker 1: Are they allowed to?
00:09:14
Speaker 3: They might not. Because that's what I'm confused by.
00:09:18
Speaker 1: Or do you sell them? Does Flock need to be a... Do you still need to have some kind of relationship with Flock after you buy the camera? Can you just buy it and go about your business? Or you need some kind of program or app or something? Flock knows who they sold these cameras to.
00:09:31
Speaker 2: Flock has to know who they sold these to. And look, right now, this is... This has become such a flashpoint. More than 150 U.S. communities have now rejected, canceled, or deactivated the flock cameras that they spent a lot of money and a lot of time and a lot of resources putting up over the past couple of years. But right now, there are still 130,000 automated license plate readers on American streets right now, as of this recording.
00:09:59
Speaker 1: Who do they belong to?
00:10:01
Speaker 2: To?
00:10:01
Speaker 3: I guess, and that is part of the problem. We don't know.
00:10:05
Speaker 2: This is all a part of, I think, the same notion or the same concern around AI. The technology can be used for good, and we see the good it's done, but I don't think it was properly vetted in terms of if this gets in the wrong hands. if the wrong person has access to this technology, the damage it can do. Yes, we know the good it can do, but what about the damage? When we come back, we're gonna talk about what our congressmen and women are doing on the federal level to try and stop flock cameras. Welcome back, everyone, to Amy and TJ. Did you know, I actually think, look, I would never typically give members of Congress this nod, but I do think the act, the way they named this act, this new bill, this new legislation, they're trying to now push through.
00:11:02
Speaker 3: The halls of Congress.
00:11:03
Speaker 1: Another good acronym?
00:11:03
Speaker 3: Well, it's not even an acronym.
00:11:05
Speaker 1: Oh, wow, okay.
00:11:06
Speaker 2: This is Republicans Thomas Massey of Kentucky and Eric Burleson of Missouri. They have introduced an act. They just did this actually last month. It's called the Flock Off Act. They're not usually cute and funny like that, but it did make me chuckle.
00:11:21
Speaker 1: I wonder if this one has any chance because it's the best named piece of legislation I've ever heard of.
00:11:27
Speaker 3: Thank you. Thank you.
00:11:28
Speaker 2: I agree.
00:11:29
Speaker 3: I was like, wow, I can't believe I'm going to give a compliment.
00:11:32
Speaker 1: And you know, Thomas Massey is the one out of Kentucky that the president targeted. He's been waiting to write down flock off for a long time.
00:11:42
Speaker 2: This one, the flock off act, was introduced September 2nd. So we'll see what happens. But obviously, leading up to the midterms, this is a huge, huge talking point. A lot of local politicians, especially going back to the community, saying I am going to, on a federal level, ban these cameras, ban this type of technology, and protect your privacy.
00:12:03
Speaker 1: This is an outright ban.
00:12:05
Speaker 2: Yes. So the bill, so the bill, no, it's not an outright bandit. This is how they're getting around it. The bill would bar federal funding for flock cameras and it would require any federally funded systems to be removed. So if anything was issued by funded by the U S government, this bill would basically remove that technology, remove those cameras and, and stop it.
00:12:30
Speaker 1: I assume that's a lot of police departments, baby. They've got federal funding to buy this stuff.
00:12:35
Speaker 3: Absolutely. There you go.
00:12:36
Speaker 2: So it would basically give state and local municipalities 180 days to stop operating the federally financed devices. So if they want to fund it on their own, through their own local governments, if their folks and The people who live in those areas want those cameras to stay up.
00:12:57
Speaker 3: They're going to have to fund it themselves. But anything that the U.S.
00:13:00
Speaker 2: Government funded to put in place, and you can imagine that's probably a significant number of cameras.
00:13:07
Speaker 1: Why we just won't pay for it. Keep doing it. If it's wrong, it's wrong. And ban it.
00:13:11
Speaker 3: You know how they go.
00:13:12
Speaker 2: They try to have to, like, I don't know why they needed to word it that way or have that be how.
00:13:18
Speaker 1: If it's a threat.
00:13:19
Speaker 3: It's being misused.
00:13:20
Speaker 1: That's the problem. If it's being misused, we don't want to pay for the misuse, or you just don't want the misuse?
00:13:26
Speaker 2: Maybe they don't know how to police the police from misusing it, and certainly it turns out we don't even know how to police people putting these things up on their own to use however they'd like.
00:13:38
Speaker 1: If you leave your car on the side of the road too long, you'll get that big, bright, neon sticker that says you have 48 hours and we're going to tow your shit. You can't take the camera down for 30 days? That's possibly collecting private information? They put a sign up.
00:13:54
Speaker 3: I don't understand. We don't know what to do.
00:13:57
Speaker 2: The technology got ahead of our ability to police it or to at.
00:14:00
Speaker 3: Least control it.
00:14:01
Speaker 1: Wow, sounds like AI, baby.
00:14:03
Speaker 3: Exactly. That's exactly what it sounds like.
00:14:05
Speaker 2: So this issue is not going away anytime soon, but this is just an exceptionally disturbing story out of Florida. But I think what makes it scarier is... is to know, we all kind of know, this is happening everywhere. This is not some anomaly that happened in St. Lucie County, Florida. They just found out because they were disabling all of the other ones. Imagine if the other 130,000 flock cameras are taken down. How many more were there? Where did that camera come from? Who's operating that camera? Who's doing what with that data that they've just now been able to collect?
00:14:38
Speaker 1: But they didn't even know they were out there.
00:14:40
Speaker 2: Nope.
00:14:40
Speaker 1: That's crazy.
00:14:41
Speaker 2: Wow.
00:14:41
Speaker 1: How many are out there? We don't even know. We should go get us a fly camera. Put it up wherever. See what happens.
00:14:45
Speaker 3: Yeah. Turns out everybody's doing it.
00:14:47
Speaker 1: And nobody's going to find out about it. Jeez.
00:14:48
Speaker 2: All right. Well, with that, everyone, we always appreciate you listening to us. I'm Amy Robach alongside TJ Holmes. We'll talk to you soon.