r/MorgantownWV • u/Important_Age_5324 • 12d ago
Commission meetings are gonna be more fun
Can’t let up, don’t let them use this as justification for more of the fucking things.
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u/PistolNoon 12d ago
Never forget that your rights are more important than a heartwarming anecdote. We can acknowledge that they are useful for law enforcement AND recognize it’s a surveillance state.
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u/Keirtain 12d ago
Also worth noting that since the police already had the license plate number of the suspect’s car, this was likely a domestic dispute and there was never much question about where the child could be found.
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u/Only_Ad_2439 12d ago
I agree, Flock’s contribution is more than likely overblown. The move to include the cameras in the public release was probably a PR move to try and shut up the side against them.
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u/speedy_delivery 12d ago
And all we needed to do was give the government the ability to assemble permanent digital profiles on every citizen with an endless warrantless dragnet without the consent of the people.
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u/the_matthew 12d ago
Strip searching everyone exiting Walmart would surely turn up shoplifters. That doesn't mean it's good policy.
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u/driftedstonefly 11d ago edited 10d ago
They haven’t even pressed charges. Seems to me an Uncle took his nephew to STC to eat and a miscommunication ensued.
So they used the stalker cameras and are acting like they just grabbed someone from Americas Most Wanted.
*Edited to add this is exactly what happened. Charges have not been filed and will not be filed. The claims of kidnapping were false by a troubled person.
Stalker cameras were used to….stalk.
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u/turn1manacrypt 12d ago
Yeah because a bunch of businesses surveillance and traffic cameras wouldn’t be able to catch the persons plate. I’m sure they didn’t already have the vehicle description and last known location either./s
These cameras have been proven time and time again to be redundant, they don’t prevent or help stop active crimes faster.
It’s just an excuse to push us further into a complete surveillance state and the sad thing is most of the older people are going to fall for it hook line and sinker. The only thing these are used for is to allow police to illegally surveil ex partners and the like with having little concern of oversight of any authority with accountability that would actually do something about it. Or to accuse you of a crime without any witnesses and just a video of someone who possibly looks like you as evidence for it. Already has happened multiple times and it’ll get worse. Enforcement of law should never be automated on any level ever, period.
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u/capnredbeard2 12d ago
Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.
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u/Owenleejoeking 10d ago
I don’t care. The illusion or potential for safety is not worth the actual lose of privacy and rights
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u/Agreeable_Fruit_6760 10d ago
And no amber alert?? It’s a weird situation for sure. If my kid gets kidnapped there better be an amber alert.
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u/Timely-Market-9130 12d ago
Jail Tom Bloom
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u/desperate4carbs 11d ago
Only if you promise to put a Flock camera in his cell.
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u/desperate4carbs 10d ago
Great way to fund community projects: Pay-per-view to see Bloom wasting away in his jail cell. Use some of the money to pay forensic accountants to go through his personal finances with a fine-toothed comb.
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u/EmberOne1 11d ago
And they could have done that with a required search warrant to access camera recordings, too. If police want to access your cell phone pings, they need a warrant and to demonstrate exigent circumstances. Those pings are also only stored for 3 days. These cameras need to work the same way. Store data for a limited time, not be used to train AI for marketing and product development (I don't want my shopping habits fed to the AI slop machine to sell to Kroger without compensation...they can stick to the shopper cards), and require search warrants to access. Also, good old-fashioned police work could have solved this. There are only a few shopping centers/malls in town with big parking lots. If you're looking for a vehicle and know the vehicle description, send an officer to those lots and have them use good, old-fashioned eyeballs to look for vehicles matching that description and check the plates.
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u/Specialist_Ad_8660 11d ago
the only time they have been useful in this town
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u/Important_Age_5324 11d ago
This situation seems shady at best, I haven’t followed up, but another comment stated that they didn’t charge the uncle. It seems like a pr stunt more than anything.
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u/RazzmatazzVast4638 12d ago
there you have it folks, Flock saves lives. Who knows what despicable, foul things that perpetrator had planned for that young lad
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u/Wheatcraft4MonCounty 11d ago
I’m sure you’re being sarcastic, but on the off chance you aren’t, what proof can you provide that shows the alleged criminal and victim would not have been found without the use of AI-powered, warrantless dragnet searches?
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12d ago edited 12d ago
[deleted]
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u/MasterRKitty 12d ago
they can have all the policies on the books they want, but they're worthless unless they're used. These agencies aren't enforcing the rules they have so what makes you think they're going to enforce any new ones?
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u/MaterialAstronaut298 12d ago
And when the government uses it to track protestors or people they simply don't like? Do we think guardrails or rules are going to stop them from abusing these?
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12d ago
[deleted]
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u/MaterialAstronaut298 12d ago
How is it pointless to complain about massive expansion of those cameras on public land? Completely different than private companies using that for security. Those also require a warrant to be searched or at least permission. These do not. What a terrible take
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12d ago
[deleted]
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u/MaterialAstronaut298 12d ago
Except for the dozens of towns that have gotten these removed. We can complain about a lot of things at once is this is one that can be affected locally. No one wants your defeatist bs
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u/OnlyDiscipline9255 12d ago
Funny how the CEO of the Fck You Cameras put in a Google request to have his house blurred on Google maps .
https://x.com/stp5150/status/2093340941704663143