CAPE CORAL, Fla. \u2014 Another Flock license plate reader has been vandalized in Cape Coral, adding to a growing debate over the cameras, privacy and how law enforcement uses the information they collect.<\/p>\n
The newest camera was damaged near Viscaya Parkway and Southeast 24th Street.<\/p>\n
Pictures from the Cape Coral Police Department show the camera and solar panel on the ground, with part of the equipment shattered.<\/p>\n
It comes just weeks after two Flock cameras were damaged at Diplomat Parkway East and Santa Barbara Boulevard.<\/p>\n
Cape Coral police say they are still investigating who damaged the newest camera.<\/p>\n
At the site, an American flag now stands where the Flock camera used to sit. Nearby, a sign reads \u201cSic Semper Tyrannis,\u201d a Latin phrase associated with opposition to tyranny.<\/p>\n
Law enforcement agencies use the license plate readers to help investigate crimes, including finding stolen vehicles, tracking down suspects and locating missing people.<\/p>\n
Robert, who lives nearby, told WINK News he supports the cameras and believes they make his family safer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think they\u2019re good for the people around here,\u201d he said. \u201cFor the family. I got two kids.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael Alexander sees both sides of the debate.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it can catch a criminal or something like that and keep someone off the street that can harm somebody, that would be great,\u201d Alexander said. \u201cAt the same time, I don\u2019t like invasion of privacy either, so I\u2019m not exactly sure what the answer would be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other Cape Coral residents had mixed opinions on the cameras.<\/p>\n
“The information it can pick up on you. I don’t feel comfortable,” Joshua Jarcia said.<\/p>\n
“If you haven’t done anything wrong, why do you need to worry about cutting it down or taking it down?” Rex Trivedi said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Another Flock license plate reader has been vandalized in Cape Coral, adding to a growing debate over the cameras, privacy and how law enforcement uses the information they collect.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Those privacy concerns have gained new attention as cases involving alleged misuse of Flock systems have surfaced.<\/p>\n
Just this week in Florida, Haines City Police Officer Christopher Goodson was arrested, accused of using the Flock database to track his estranged wife\u2019s vehicle hundreds of times.<\/p>\n
Retired FBI agent Richard Kolko told WINK News that concerns about misuse are legitimate, but he also said the technology can provide investigators with valuable information.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot only do they give a license plate, but they give the type of car, the color, the model, even dents in the car or bumper stickers are in the car,\u201d Kolko said. \u201cVery helpful for police in law enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n
The cameras have also faced pushback in other Florida communities.<\/p>\n
In Palm Bay, officials suspended the city\u2019s Flock camera system while reviewing concerns involving the cameras.<\/p>\n
The debate has also played out through protests.<\/p>\n
In St. Petersburg, Carl Gunn spent days sitting in front of Flock cameras and holding up a sign to block their view.<\/p>\n
Cape Coral Police Chief Anthony Sizemore previously defended the cameras after two other Flock cameras were destroyed in north Cape Coral last month.<\/p>\n
“I have a very limited number of people who have access to the system\u2026and you have to be trained,” Sizemore said.<\/p>\n
Cape Coral police told WINK News that Flock replaces damaged cameras, meaning the replacement does not come out of taxpayer money.<\/p>\n
A department spokesperson did not know when the newest damaged camera would be back up and running.<\/p>\n
Another Flock camera remains operating on the same street where the newest one was damaged.<\/p>\n
The investigation into who damaged the camera remains ongoing.<\/p>\n
Flock, the company behind many of these cameras, announced new restrictions Thursday. The company is reducing the amount of time data is stored from 30 days to seven days and requiring investigators to put in a specific code to look for data.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CAPE CORAL, Fla. \u2014 Another Flock license plate reader has been vandalized in Cape Coral, adding to a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":371173,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[209,211,210,325,115],"class_list":["post-371172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral-headlines","tag-cape-coral-news","tag-lee","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=371172"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371172\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/371173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=371172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=371172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=371172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}