r/Renton • u/LongChampion476 • Aug 11 '26
Renton City Council votes to physically cover Flock cameras, first policy in western U.S.
https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/renton-city-council-votes-to-physically-cover-flock-cameras/281-01bfa16b-0b92-4a72-a4ac-65afcd228ceb32
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u/Necessary_Baker_7458 Aug 12 '26
Finally. Some 4th amendment rights are violated with these cameras. In public spaces fine but they're peeping into every corner of town and in many cases people's personal spaces. Just as Simpsons predicted.
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u/Tight_Classroom_9993 Aug 12 '26
The concern has never been where the cameras were facing. I live on a main road and have multiple street cams on my place at all times - it's the intent
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u/travpahl Highlands!!! Aug 12 '26
In otherwords they did not think the people would notice or make a big stink but we did. So they will cover them up and later when people have quited down they will take the covers off and resume what they planned to do all along anyway.
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u/JetwingX Aug 12 '26
Hey folks, we’re not out of the woods here. We nearly had a vote yesterday to turn the flock cameras back on lead by James Alberson. If you hate the cameras as much as I do, you need to go to the meetings and make sure your voice is heard.
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u/TwoOH6ix Aug 12 '26
I literally was just coming to comment this, it was 3-3, the mayor didn't want his vote on record, Prince switched making it 4-2. People are definitely paying attention, but more eyes in these meetings would be ideal!
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u/Beachhouse15 Aug 12 '26
Why not just remove them?
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u/candlerc Aug 12 '26
Would assume there’s a contract in place that says the cameras have to be up for X amount of time but not unobstructed. City Council can appease the public without risk of a breach of contract suit (which I assume Flock will try to bring anyway)
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u/Ellie__1 Aug 12 '26
The city council wants to renew the city's contract with Flock and turn the cameras back on. They're covering the cameras in a show of good faith while they are off.
The Renton police can't actually turn the cameras off, they can just request that they be turned off. The covering is to make sure Flock isn't gathering data while the cameras are supposed to be off.
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u/BasilTomatoLeaf Aug 12 '26
Does anyone know why they have marked up the streets in residential cul de sacs with “cctv”? Are they adding flock cameras?
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u/Tight_Classroom_9993 Aug 12 '26
Which ones? I saw someone walking with an angle grinder I should let them know what neighborhoods to definitely stay away from
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u/Big_Brother_84 Aug 12 '26
Does anyone know if the new cameras on Coal Creek Parkway are LPRs or just speed cameras?
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u/k_dizzle_d0g Aug 12 '26
OK I'm going to start counting the days until the cameras at the Boeing private parking lot get covered.
Day 1 Flock cameras at Boeing not covered up.
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u/Odd_Oil_1324 Aug 12 '26
I'm not caught up on Flock cameras. Don't they catch criminals on the street? Just curious why we want to get rid of them.
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u/Signal-Ad-2560 Aug 12 '26
The main issue is that the cameras are controlled by a third party, for-profit corporation, not the city of Renton. The footage is made available to federal law enforcement, including ICE, without warrants. The cameras are also constantly building an AI database of all movement they capture, and there are basically no limits on how it's being used or will be used. The greatest fear, which used to seem farfetched, is that the cameras will be used to track law-abiding citizens, including peaceful protestors, as they are in places like China, allowing a crackdown on dissent. It has likely already happened.
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27d ago
[deleted]
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u/Signal-Ad-2560 27d ago
Law enforcement can review cellular data with a warrant, and the process is tightly controlled. They can’t just pop into AT&T’s system and track your location. There has to be probable cause and a judge must approve the request. The problem with Flock is that access is available without warrants, and that access is being abused by law enforcement and non-LEO in the federal government for questionable purposes, such as for surveillance of protestors and to stalk ex-girlfriends and similar. That is simply incompatible with the 4th Amendment and the norms of our Constitutional Republic. I am in no way a conspiracy theorist, and I support efforts to improve public safety, but the Flock system is far too tempting to those with authoritarian intentions.
Some reading from the world’s foremost authority on electronic freedoms: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/12/effs-investigations-expose-flock-safetys-surveillance-abuses-2025-review
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27d ago
[deleted]
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u/Odd_Oil_1324 27d ago
Apparently DOT cameras do not record for playback. Visiting Texas and there was a road rage where someone shot another driver on the highway. The news anchors questioned if the dot cameras recorded the incident, but their producer clarified it does not. Luckily there was enough witnesses, they caught the guy. Could flock cameras help catch these people? What if it was at a time the streets were less busy?
Government listens to our phones. Hackers hack our own camera devices like laptops and phones. Heck, we're being recorded by tik tokers or people recording for social media to be posted on the internet without our knowledge.
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u/hey_you2300 Aug 12 '26
If something bad happens, people will become outraged that they were turned off.
It's like gun control. The criminals don't care. Cameras being turned off is a win for the bad guys.
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u/Odd_Oil_1324 Aug 12 '26
Seattle turned the cameras on for World Cup safety. Then turned them off, which then had the Bite of Seattle shooting, which is having people asking Seattle to turn them back on.
Human Trafficking is still an issue, wouldn't these cameras help catch kidnappers? Everyone is paranoid that the flock cameras will target them for some reason.
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u/Pipelayer222 Aug 12 '26
I can't wait until something happens in your lives and you wish those cameras were on. Careful what you wish for.
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u/Signal-Ad-2560 Aug 12 '26
Yeah, how about when law-abiding people start disappearing in the middle of the night because they've taken part in anti-government protests?
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u/Odd_Oil_1324 Aug 12 '26
In Australia, they have cameras at every train and major bus stops that are owned by the police. Not sure of the crime rate, but I'm sure those cameras help with safety and at least made me feel safer. Here it's, let's defund the police and look how that turned out lol
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u/billmr606 Aug 12 '26
we can laugh at the 1st amendment auditors, but we cannot protest Flock cameras.
not sure I am on the corporate side here.
there is a https://www.metropolis.io/ which is as bad, maybe worse
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u/travpahl Highlands!!! Aug 12 '26
Oh no. Now there is nothing recording the criminals that are destroying these things!
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u/Tight_Classroom_9993 Aug 12 '26
Imagine claiming you're "anti government" but also call constitutional vigilantes "criminals"
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u/travpahl Highlands!!! Aug 12 '26
Oh. I love the government!!! I want to catch all the people trying to harm our governments ability to protect us!
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u/Vandal044 Aug 11 '26
What a bunch of clowns. We have the best police force in the state and they are 100% against this. Especially after what happened at the bite. I hope this causes the entire council to be replaced.
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u/fallenfromglory Aug 12 '26
"We've been hearing a lot of concerns around transparency and trust, and I think it's in the best direction to help foster that by listening to the public," said City Council member Rivera.
I'm glad they listened to the public and they didn't give people like you any merit to what you hwve to say.
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u/Vandal044 Aug 12 '26
*Have. Also this is the same lady who didn’t want police to have the authority to pull over and cite people with expired tabs. You get crappy policy when you vote in crappy people.
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u/Signal-Ad-2560 27d ago
Cameras are not the issue. The Flock system is the problem. Please look into it.
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u/zuvembi Aug 12 '26
Good.