Local News
“The local community has made it aware that they are not in favor of the department’s Flock cameras throughout the town of Douglas,” police say.
Police found a Flock camera destroyed in Douglas over the weekend and believe a vehicle intentionally struck the automated license plate reader system.
Officers found the destroyed camera around 10:30 p.m. Saturday on Gilboa Street, police wrote in an incident report. The camera itself was found about 20 feet from its structure, on the opposite side of the road, police said.
The camera had “significant damage,” including a solar panel that was “completely shattered,” the report states.
Stow police cut ties with Flock Safety after officer allegedly used cameras to track someone he knows
New Bedford police officer investigated for allegedly using Flock surveillance cameras to track her ex
Police also noted finding tire imprints in the grass about 30 feet in front of where the camera structure was located. The camera’s pole remained on the ground but had been “flatten[ed] to the point of it being adjacent to the ground,” per the report.
“The local community has made it aware that they are not in favor of the department’s Flock cameras throughout the town of Douglas,” the police report states. “It is led to believe that this incident was [a] malicious destruction of the Flock camera located on Gilboa Street.”
No arrests have been made, and the incident remains under investigation, Lieutenant Travis Gould told Boston.com Wednesday.
The camera last captured a photo around 9 p.m. Saturday before going “offline,” police said.
Officers spoke with residents at 41 and 42 Gilboa St., but they said they did not hear or see anything, police said. The residents at 42 Gilboa St. told police their own cameras were not operating at the time of the incident.
Police also attempted to obtain footage from a Shell Station just beyond the town line on Lackey Dam Road, but the manager was out for the day, according to the report.
Flock Safety, the company behind the cameras, has faced increased scrutiny over its surveillance technology in recent months.
The system has played a key role in assisting law enforcement during high-profile incidents, but opponents have raised concerns about privacy, data security, government overreach, and alleged police misuse of the system.
In Douglas, a town of approximately 8,500 people southwest of Boston, there are eight Flock cameras, according to an online watchdog website, including the one that was apparently vandalized.
The Douglas Police Department says it uses the technology to help investigate crimes and has guidelines governing its use, according to the department’s Flock Safety Transparency Portal.
Sign up for the Today newsletter
Get everything you need to know to start your day, delivered right to your inbox every morning.