Keep in mind that the general public's sentiment on Flock is nowhere near that of the Twitterati. My HOA wants to pay for a camera. All the old folks that attend the meetings are excited and think the technology is cool. The only "crime" we get is a bunch of teenagers sneaking into the pool after hours.

At the same time though, if a car that's obviously "not from around here" were to do a drive-by looking for open garages to grab some tools or a bike - I'd want that to be recorded and flagged.

I'd get lynched for sharing a thought like this from a non-throwaway account, but: I don't get the ultra-liberal folks obsession with the skid row. For whatever reason they seem to think that low rank criminals should be allowed to continue living however they please. An attempt to clean up crime in Oakland - for example - is met with cries of gentrification! Think of the families! Somehow everyone focuses on the family of the drug dealer and not of the hard working single mom who doesn't want her kids to join a gang. Is seems that only those involved in petty crime are considered to be the valuable members of the local community, and only their values need protecting.

Do you really need flock cameras to catch low rank criminals in skid row or kids sneaking into the pool after hours? This seems like a massively imbalanced transaction. Moreover, who really cares about these kids doing that? Our justice system is completely overloaded, and the tools it has to deal with one of those kids in the wrong jurisdiction runs an extremely high risk of ruining their life rather than scaring them straight. One of those old people could probably accomplish the same thing by spending a couple of late evenings at the pool with a very bright flashlight if it’s that big of a deal.

Finally, I’m really worried about the parental surveillance we’re sticking everywhere. You are absolutely training your children to never take risks and wondering why they’re an anxious mess. There is a wide gulf between cutting through private property and vandalizing it, and I’m not convinced our current system is properly equipped to handle the nuances of that.

> I'd get lynched for sharing a thought like this from a non-throwaway account, but: I don't get the ultra-liberal folks obsession with the skid row. For whatever reason they seem to think that low rank criminals should be allowed to continue living however they please. An attempt to clean up crime in Oakland - for example - is met with cries of gentrification! Think of the families!

You fail to demonstrate that you are capable of thinking in terms of policies that are pragmatic and enduring. Where is your rage when time and again corporations are give multi-million dollars of incentives when they promise jobs, economic boom to the cities which has been repeatedly shown to never materialize and taxpayers are left footing the bill. taxpayer money keeps flowing to other avoidable things like settlements for police brutality, cleaning up the mess left by many bad ideas, etc.

I am no liberal, but what seems to be the problem in spending some money to build low cost housing so removal does not seem forced? why would that thought not come to your mind? for every ultra-liberal, there are 4x the corporate boot-lickers, and that seems to be the source of the problem.

You seem like the kind of person that is perfectly ok with stolen goods as long as they are are kept in nice display cases in a museum and even an entry fee is even charged for it.

Flock won't help protect your shovel. No one is getting flagged for being in an area they don't live when you report missing lawn art. Its used for more serious crimes and to build a map that tracks where everyone goes, when and combined with your cell data who you are.

You personal benefit nothing and lose privacy of movement.

For most people it means nothing until it does.

I live in Oakland and this resonates true from what I’ve seen, where Flock is a deeply divided issue in Alameda county compared to the overall negative sentiment you find on HN.

Listening in on city council meetings or even just perusing Nextdoor posts you’ll find there are many proponents for more cameras generally from folks tired of crime.

This entire post seems like a strawman? What do Oakland or Skid Row have to do with people not wanting Flock cameras installed in their communities tracking all of their movements?

I don't care about Flock tracking petty criminals, I care about Flock tracking _me_.