In an email to residents, Old Braeswood Property Owners Association President Ann Blackwood said the poles holding up Flock-branded cameras had been cut and the cameras left lying on the ground, and that law enforcement was investigating the matter.
“It is interesting to note that each of the four poles was neatly sawed through with a heavy duty saw, about 18 inches from the ground, with each of the cameras carefully lowered to the ground and left intact,” Blackwood said in her email. She added that a resident reported hearing a loud noise between 1 and 3 a.m. July 25.
The cut poles were found at Morningside and Underwood, Morningside and Holcombe, Greenbriar and Holcombe, and Greenbriar and Main.
“The incidents at Main and Holcombe were particularly audacious due to their high-visibility locations,” Blackwood wrote.
The Houston Police Department and Harris County Precinct 1 Constable Office did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the vandalized cameras.
The license plate reader cameras by tech company Flock Safety provide 24/7 monitoring for police departments, businesses and neighborhoods and have become a divisive feature of police patrol throughout the U.S. Civil rights groups say the use of the cameras could violate the privacy of individuals because they provide information about daily routines and whereabouts of drivers.
Anger over the cameras has sparked similar incidents in which Flock cameras around the city have been found damaged, spray painted or cut down from a pole during the past month.
The cameras have also allegedly been used by police officers to monitor specific individuals. In Baytown and Pasadena, police departments have launched internal investigations into officers for misusing the technology.
Conroe City Council shelved proposals to review the city’s use of the license plate cameras after residents opposed implementing Flock cameras. Council members this month are expected to discuss putting city use of the cameras to a public vote in November.
The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office has used the Flock cameras to capture people in connection with cases involving arson, felony theft, burglary, stolen vehicles and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, among others, according to sheriff’s Capt. Rhyan Droddy.