Remix.run Logo
arjie 11 hours ago

That seems fine. Flock's partnership began in 2021.

2021 homicides: 161

2025 homicides: 96

The purpose of enforcement is to reduce the amount of crime not to maximize the percentage of prosecuted crime.

https://www.atlantaga.gov/Home/Components/News/News/13687/67...

https://www.11alive.com/article/news/crime/sharp-drop-in-atl...

cam_l 10 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Ooh, fact cherry picking..

From wiki.. "The number of murders in Atlanta was 80 in 2009, 92 in 2010, 88 in 2011, 85 in 2012, 82 in 2013, 93 in 2014, 95 in 2015, and 111 in 2016." [0]

In fact, 2016 is also a blip and then it goes back down again until 2019, and 2022 was the high point. It is almost as if the incidence of homicides is entirely unrelated to flock.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_Atlanta

lacy_tinpot 10 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I think the case against Flock isn't about its efficacy, it's simply about civil rights.

Similar to how gun laws aren't about the safety of guns, I think Flock cameras, and other surveillance technologies simply encroach on individual freedoms.

A citizen should be reasonably free from government surveillance.

nomel 10 hours ago | parent [-]

Please note the article you're commenting under, where the case presented is entirely about efficacy.

nomel 10 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I would also assume surveillance would increase crime that's reported, at least a little bit, since it would mean the police would be less likely to say what anyone who has lived in a higher crime area is familiar with hearing: "There's nothing we can do about it".

chaps 10 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

This reduction is happening across the board and isn't "because of flock".

stevenwoo 10 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I think that purpose statement implies good intentions - we all know measurement stats become the thing that is gamed to make one's organization look good and this is well documented for American law enforcement. Unless absolutely forced to, they simply do not measure things they do not want to report, i.e. prosecutors do not have to document racial backgrounds of accused to prevent racial discrimination from being proved in court (The New Jim Crow), crimes by law enforcement are underreported - especially fatal use of force - justified because "cop scared for his life" (Copoganda), tons of anecdotal evidence many cops will not investigate petty theft even when owners track down thief. The Wire kind of made fun of this "juking the stats" more than ten years ago (co-written by formal journalist David Simon).

ehhthing 10 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

The reduction in crime cannot be attributed to using Flock cameras, so the figures you give aren't meaningful for this conversation.

Incipient 10 hours ago | parent [-]

Correlation does not mean causation!

...but it can. Unfortunately something like this with a huge number of independent variables, it's hard to know.

hilariously 10 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

2021: I ate more hamburgers 2025: I ate less hamburgers

Prove to me it wasn't my hamburger eating.

protocolture 10 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

If Cameras prevented crime, London would be some kind of Utopia.

rockskon 10 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Seems a bit premature to attribute that solely (or even primarily) to Flock.

It also begs the question of if there is a deterrent effect from cameras to commit homicide, couldn't that deterrent be achieved with a far less controversial technology?

llm_nerd 10 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

2019 had 99 murders. This has absolutely nothing to do with Flock, and the notion is perverse nonsense.

Cameras do not prevent crime. This has been eminently shown endlessly. Now ideally they help then find the culprits, but in practice this just isn't happening.

nomel 10 hours ago | parent | next [-]

> Cameras do not prevent crime.

What is this based on? They do seem to prevent crime [1][2][3]. To my naive perspective, this seems ludicrously obvious, since there are just countless examples of thieves looking around for cameras, and then noping out once one is seen, that can be found on YouTube. As a youth, who enjoyed urban exploration with my friends (aka trespassing) it definitely deterred our group from entering a properties. It doesn't prevent certain crimes, but to say it doesn't prevent any is a perspective that I, and the insurance agencies that give discounts, just can't comprehend.

[1] https://www.ojp.gov/library/publications/cctv-surveillance-c...

[2] 13% drop https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/02/technology/personaltech/s...

[3] 25% drop https://popcenter.asu.edu/sites/g/files/litvpz3631/files/230...

llm_nerd 27 minutes ago | parent [-]

A camera does not prevent crime. It never has, anywhere on the planet. Monitoring does prevent crime, and people who look out for cameras aren't worried about the camera, they're worried about active monitoring. They're worried that the police will be there moments later. When you planned on breaking into a dozen cars to rummage through them in some vacant lot, the calculus is a lot different when there is a guy watching you.

Only everyone knows most of these cameras aren't monitored. The effect of the monitoring concern has dissolved.

And it's especially ridiculous to claim that cameras stop gang violence, which comes in ebbs and flows. Which was the "look it stopped all the murders!" There are various other absurd takes throughout this discussion, and HNers should realize that Flock has a massive PR campaign underway, and an enormous number of astroturfers spreading hilariously stupid stories about the gang members intimidated by...a camera.

cindyllm 10 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

[dead]

smt88 11 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Homicide rates have dropped similarly (or more) in less-surveilled cities like Baltimore.

Crime is complex, and it’s incredibly silly to look at those two variables and call it a day.

cm2012 10 hours ago | parent [-]

Baltimore's crime drop is surveillance-related. They have over 800 city watch cameras across Baltimore. They even sent personalized custom messages to certain gang members who they've tracked doing crime adjacent things and tell them to stop or they will be arrested. If anything, Baltimore's recent crime drop is the tale of the success of surveillance policing mixed with good social service options.

chaps 10 hours ago | parent [-]

That's creepy as fuck.

Also, show proof.

cm2012 10 hours ago | parent [-]

Sure there are lots of articles but here is one: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/16/baltimore-vi...

chaps 10 hours ago | parent [-]

Okay but can you give me an article that's relevant to the use of surveillance that speaks to your central claim?

cm2012 10 hours ago | parent [-]

Sure here is more research for you. This is the last one I will do though, Google for yourself after.

"At a high level, the strategy involves three parts: identification, notification, and action. First, a series of weekly meetings led by BPD identifies people at high risk of committing a shooting or being the victim of one. Then, a team of people—usually a combination of a detective, an outreach worker and a community member—notify the person, either during an individual visit or as part of a group “call- in,” that they are at risk of being involved in a shooting and that they have become a focus of GVRS and law enforcement. "

https://crimejusticelab.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/w3529...

10 hours ago | parent | next [-]
[deleted]
10 hours ago | parent | prev [-]
[deleted]
muglug 11 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Eh 2020-2022 saw a nationwide increase in crime.

derektank 10 hours ago | parent [-]

The national homicide rate in 2025 fell below the levels seen in 2019, even exceeding the previous historical minimum set in 2014. There is clearly something new going on in the last 4 years besides simply reversing the rise seen during and immediately following Covid

chaps 10 hours ago | parent [-]

Quick: give us 10 correlative reasons why this could be that don't include surveillance tech.

You'll do great.

derektank 9 hours ago | parent [-]

I personally wouldn’t attribute it to Flock, I think it’s probably more related to changing social norms that developed during Covid. But I think a lot of people are under the impression that the current crime recession is simply a reversion to the mean when it’s much more interesting than that