Low-tech attacks are disabling Flock’s high-tech surveillance in the U.S.

In Irmo, South Carolina, a low-tech act of defiance has sidelined high-tech surveillance. Flock Safety automated license plate readers were recently disabled after being spray-coated with foam sealant, an incident that local police are currently investigating.

The vandalism occurred just weeks after the town’s council controversially approved a $400,000 contract to triple the number of cameras from 11 to 33.

This local clash reflects a deepening nationwide backlash against automated surveillance, as a growing number of communities rebel against the encroaching tracking systems.

While law enforcement advocates praise Flock cameras for their ability to quickly track stolen vehicles and locate missing persons, privacy watchdogs raise alarms over mass surveillance. The debate has intensified following several high-profile incidents of police officers misusing the database for personal stalking, prompting Flock Safety to recently overhaul its policies.

To address these growing concerns, the company announced it is reducing its default data-retention period from 30 days to seven. Yet, with citizens increasingly taking matters into their own hands, the battle between public security and individual privacy shows no signs of slowing down.

source: WIS News 10 (August 13, 2026): Flock cameras vandalized in Irmo amid privacy debate.

Why all the fuss?

from Gemini AI:

These cameras record all movements past them including pedestrians and privacy concerns have arisen about their nationwide network of automated license plate readers (ALPRs). Critics argue the system amounts to mass surveillance that tracks ordinary citizens without a warrant, while police misuse, technical errors leading to wrongful stops, and data sharing with immigration or out-of-state abortion enforcers have intensified the backlash.

Privacy and Mass Surveillance

• Warrantless Tracking: Opponents like the American Civil Liberties Union argue that logging billions of vehicle locations creates a permanent, searchable historical record of movements for everyday people not suspected of any crime.
• Data Retention: While traditionally stored for 30 days, the constant logging of physical locations has sparked widespread civic mistrust and local bans or moratoriums on camera installations.

Police Misuse and Stalking

• Unauthorized Surveillance: Dozens of law enforcement officers have been accused, investigated, or charged with abusing the camera network to track former domestic partners, romantic interests, or citizens for personal reasons. [1, 2, 3]
• Sensitive Inquiries: Reports revealed instances where the technology was allegedly leveraged to monitor individuals seeking out-of-state reproductive healthcare or targeted immigration enforcement. [1, 2]

Errors and Public Safety Risks

• Wrongful Detentions: System or data errors have caused drivers to be mistakenly pulled down or stopped by police at gunpoint under false assumptions that their vehicles were stolen. [1]
• Vandalism and Pushback: Growing populist anti-tech sentiment has led some frustrated residents to physically protest or sabotage the roadside devices. [1, 2]

Company Response

• In response to the backlash, Flock announced steps to shorten automatic data storage limits down from 30 days to 7 days and mandate audit-assistance tools to flag suspicious officer queries.

edited media release

The Serious Fraud Office has filed charges against a former KCDC manager and two associates alleging they deceived Auckland and Kapiti councils into awarding contracts valued at more than $12 million to an engineering firm they controlled. The three people, who have interim name suppression, face two charges each. They appeared in the Porirua District Court yesterday, where they entered not guilty pleas and elected trial by jury.

The charges allege that the first defendant, while employed at Auckland Council and KCDC working on infrastructure projects, was at the same time involved in running an engineering firm with the remaining two defendants; the first defendant used their council positions to obtain more than $12 million in work for the engineering firm, including manipulating the procurement process.

Of this $12 million, it is alleged the engineering firm received $1.7 million from Auckland Council between 2011 and 2015, and $10.5 million from Kāpiti Coast District Council between 2015 and 2024. KCDC referred the matter to the SFO following its own internal audit.

The defendants’ next scheduled appearance is at the Porirua District Court on 15 September.

KCDC says: “Kāpiti Coast District Council has been advised by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) that a former council employee has been charged with obtaining by deception.

These charges have come about following an internal investigation that our Council referred to the SFO in 2023.

Council is committed to a culture that is open, transparent, and accountable and we have policies, systems and processes in place for staff to raise concerns when they come across behaviours or practices that do not align with expectations of Council employees.

We remain focused on ensuring our internal controls, governance, finance and accounting processes are operating effectively.

As the charges are currently progressing through the courts and are subject to name suppression, we’re unable to provide any further details relating to the charges beyond what the SFO have shared.”

John of our editorial group says: “I raised this with KCDC back in 2024 and was stonewalled, also with the SFO a bit later in the year, at the time when I was questioning the work of EY’s auditor but they both refused to take action. I will dig in my correspondence and put the file trail together.”

A retired British police officer has been handed a criminal conviction and more than £1,000 in fines for resharing a satirical Facebook meme poking fun at Islam. 

Stephen Gray, 65, a former Police officer who served nearly three decades, was found guilty under Section 127 of the Communications Act 2003 of making a “grossly offensive” post. 

The case has sparked fresh warnings that blasphemy laws, abolished in England in 2008, are being revived by the back door — but only for one religion.

‘It was one joke, not targeted at anybody, pointing out certain parts of Islam.’

https://x.com/GBNEWS/status/2089074651398070344?s=20

Gray’s first concern when charged was not himself, but the young Irish girl he and his wife had been fostering for six years. “I was initially quite worried because obviously we have to have enhanced DBS checks to foster children,” he told The Telegraph.

He added, “These kids have enough to put up with without the fear they may be moving again hanging over their heads.” Social services later described the prosecution as “utter rubbish” and reassured the couple it would not affect their fostering.

Gray was reported to Durham Constabulary by a non-Muslim neighbour with whom he had previously had an unrelated disagreement. 

He had reshared two images. The first featured a Middle Eastern man alongside the words “time for mass deportation” and “Children in Need,” with a caption reading: “12-year-old Mohammed recently arrived at Dover. Please donate to help him move from a three-star to a five-star hotel which has a better halal menu, free wifi and Sky and is nearer to a girls’ school.” 

The district judge ruled this was not grossly offensive because it related to a political issue debated in Parliament.

The second image showed a man in a turban next to a rasher of bacon with the caption: “Fun facts about Bacon! People who eat bacon have a lower chance of marrying a 9-year-old!” That post led to the conviction. 

The judge decided it was about religion rather than politics and was therefore “grossly offensive.”

Gray has been clear about his intent. “I made a joke, an ironic joke, about Islam. That is all it was at the end of the day. A joke. I certainly never, not for one second, thought it would be deemed abusive.” 

He added: “I guess some of the posts may have been in bad taste. Some of them may upset one or two people, but I didn’t think for one second it would be cast as grossly offensive by the police, the Crown Prosecution Service and by the courts. Not for one second.” 

Hundreds, if not thousands, of other people had reshared the same material. Gray did not create the images.

The Crown Prosecution Service initially declined to charge him, stating there was no realistic prospect of conviction. The complainant then used the Victims’ Right to Review scheme, and the CPS reversed course.

Gray is appealing with the support of the Free Speech Union. His former boss at Cleveland Police was “absolutely gobsmacked.” Gray recalled: “Back when I was serving, if I had taken this case to my sergeant or inspector, I would have been on foot beat night shift for the next five years for wasting everybody’s time. It wouldn’t have got past the front door of the police station.”

He now sees a clear pattern. “I just think it’s a dangerous road that the Government is going down trying to use the justice system to get us to stop criticising a religion that promotes a lot of things people might not agree with.” 

Lord Young of Acton, general secretary of the Free Speech Union, put it bluntly: “Prosecuting people for making jokes about Islam, particularly if they contain a kernel of truth, is a new low. No one making a similar joke about Jesus would face prosecution.”

Young added, “Blasphemy laws were abolished in England 18 years ago and should not be resurrected by the courts and applied to just one religion.”

This is not an isolated incident. It fits a growing pattern of institutional pressure against any criticism of Islam. 

Earlier this year, a Christian police community support officer with North Yorkshire Police was driven out of his job after asking basic questions about jihad and Hamas atrocities during a mandatory diversity training session billed as a “safe space.” 

Luke Salmons was suspended, faced misconduct proceedings, and ultimately resigned under pressure after colleagues reported a book in his locker. The force’s own “safe space” invitation to discuss the issues proved hollow the moment scrutiny touched Islam.

Read more

from Concerned Ratepayers Kapiti

At the Monday 10 August Labour Party meeting where Kapiti electorate candidate Sophie Handford and Labour Party spokesperson for Local Government spoke, we questioned their position on amalgamation – we have already written on this – but we also asked where Labour stands on rates capping.

The answer?

Labour currently has no fixed position.

Utikere said Labour would wait until it sees the Government’s proposed rates-capping legislation before deciding whether it supports it, and would then assess the implications for things such as transport and infrastructure spending.

We then asked a different question: What is Labour’s own principled position on rates capping — regardless of what the current Government proposes?

There wasn’t one.

Instead, Labour talked about finding new revenue tools for councils, including possibilities such as sharing GST or having Government agencies pay rates on their regional properties.  But Utikere made no actual commitments on any of these either. 

Some of us have been around long enough to remember that such ideas have been talked about since the mid-1980s, at least.  But no government – National-led or Labour-led – since then have actually done them.  The reason is simple – they cost a lot of money.  And when the incoming government – whoever it is – will face a large fiscal deficit even before they have to pay for everything else that they have promised, don’t hold your breath for GST revenue sharing or government agencies paying rates anytime soon.

What we didn’t hear was any discussion about getting council spending under control.

In an answer to a question, Utikere did promise that “unfunded mandates” — responsibilities passed from central government to councils without adequate funding — would be stopped by Labour.  Unfortunately for us, if you look at the reasons why our rates have been going up so much in recent years, the biggest reason by far is the lack of cost control on KCDC’s own internal costs, not unfunded mandates. 

DISCLAIMER:   CRK is not aligned to any political party. Our focus is on how Central Government decisions affect local government — and ultimately, the rates we all pay.

We’ll continue asking the questions and reporting back on what the political parties are actually proposing on local government issues.  Because Kapiti ratepayers deserve to know who will stand up for rates affordability.

We’ll be attending other party candidates’ meetings – including the upcoming National Party and NZ First meetings in Kapiti – and will report back on their positions on amalgamation and other local government issues.

On 17 August 2021, millions of New Zealanders were forced into ‘Lockdown’ because of one single ‘ASSUMED’ DELTA CASE.

And there’s this:

Article on the RCR website:

RCR EXCLUSIVE: New vaccination data obtained by RCR, alongside emails released earlier this year, reveal that 311,257 teenagers received a second dose of the Covid vaccine after officials and Vaccine Ministers had been advised of the increased risk of myocarditis following a second dose in young people.

An email from Dr Ian Town, the Covid-19 Vaccine Technical Advisory Group (CV TAG) chair, dated 12 August 2021, shows the group’s advice on myocarditis risk and the recommended dosing schedule for 12 to 17-year-olds had been accepted by Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield and communicated “in detail” to the Vaccine Ministerial Group.

Read the rest

Remember Hippy Chippy was right there supporting Her crazy, obscene actions.

NEW EMAIL RELEASE SHOWS FDA FULLY AWARE OF LARGE NUMBERS OF SERIOUS COVID INJURIES AND DID NOTHING ABOUT IT – MAY 2021

I always thought that when the TRUTH finally broke through the barricades of censorship, obfuscation and denial, that I would feel elation,… pic.twitter.com/zFCmr6ic2t

— NZ and the MRNA (@HopeRising19) August 17, 2026

In all the multitude of packages of sanctions by the EU against Russia, one specific commodity was not touched. That of high grade Aerospace Titanium, of which Russia is the largest global supplier.

It was earlier announced by Moscow that it is terminating its sale of Aerospace Titanium to European countries.

France being the leading European manufacturer of both civilian, as well as military aircraft, will be the hardest hit.

There’s a long and stubborn pattern in history that refuses to die. Charlie Manson had his “Family” — a group of young women who not only followed him but committed murder for him, then remained loyal even after the horrors were exposed. They saw a messianic figure. The rest of us saw a manipulative psychopath with a guitar and a lot of empty slogans.

A decade later, Ted Bundy sat on death row and received stacks of love letters and marriage proposals from women who had never met him. They wrote about his eyes, his intelligence, his “misunderstood” nature. The fact that he had raped and murdered dozens of young women somehow became a detail

Now, in 2026, we have Luigi Mangione—a man who just admitted to a judge that he committed the cold-blooded murder of a healthcare CEO. He has somehow acquired a fan club of women who romanticize him, call for his freedom, and treat him like a folk hero…

— The GrrrTeam

Read the rest at the GrrrGraphics Post! 

THE WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM IS COMING FOR YOUR STEAK.

WEF Dr. Matthew Liao: We can engineer MEAT ALLERGIES using Lone Star Ticks so you physically CAN'T EAT BEEF OR OTHER MEATS. pic.twitter.com/jNbMpFCWRd

— Valerie Anne Smith (@ValerieAnne1970) August 17, 2026