Someone cut down a Flock license plate reader camera on the 5800 block of Dixie Highway in Franklin Township on Aug. 25.
The incident is part of a statewide wave of vandalism targeting the surveillance devices, first reported by the Dayton Daily News. More than 30 Ohio police agencies conducted Flock network searches over the summer tied to Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) cameras that were dismantled, struck, chopped down, rammed with vehicles or covered with spray paint, according to audit records and documents the newspaper obtained.
A Warren County Sheriff's Office deputy responded to the Franklin Township scene and retrieved the camera and an attached solar panel, according to a criminal offense report cited by the Dayton Daily News. The report listed the camera as state of Ohio property valued at $3,000. The sheriff's office said repairs cost about $800.
No other physical evidence was found.
The incident came two days after Springboro police responded to a damaged Flock ALPR at the entrance of Hazel Woods Park on West Lower Springboro Road, about four miles away. That case remains under active investigation, the Dayton Daily News reported.
Warren County debate over cameras
The camera damage comes as several Warren County-area governments reconsider the technology.
Lebanon City Council voted Sept. 8 to remove all 20 of its Flock cameras, citing distrust of Flock Safety as a company. Lebanon Mayor Mark Messer said the city sent Flock 54 written questions on Aug. 17 and received no response for 21 days, according to Fox 19.
"We operate on public trust, you operate on public trust, and if I can't tell the public what these things are doing then I have a very hard time maintaining that type of relationship," Messer said at the Sept. 8 meeting, according to Fox 19.
The Hamilton County Sheriff's Office fully terminated its 75-camera Flock program in early October. Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey had paused the technology in September, saying residents raised fair concerns about how it was used, WLWT reported.
Michael Benza, a professor of practice at Case Western Reserve University, told the Dayton Daily News the vandalism could stem from frustration with government inaction on privacy concerns. He said ALPRs track and record information about everyone on the road, not just criminal suspects, and some people object to having their movements documented.
A Flock Safety spokesperson told the newspaper the company has seen few vandalism reports relative to its network of more than 120,000 cameras across 49 states. The spokesperson said a camera taken offline could mean a missed lead tied to an AMBER Alert or a violent crime suspect.
The criminal offense report cited by the Dayton Daily News did not mention an arrest in the Franklin Township case.
