By admin 
One stretch of road in Folsom saw two Flock cameras vandalized last week, according to the Folsom Police Department.
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The damaged automated license plate readers were located just east of the intersection between Oak and Santa Juanita avenues, near the city’s border with Orangevale, according to police records. One was damaged Tuesday and the other Wednesday.
One appeared to be punctured, while another had been entirely broken from its base, a Sacramento Bee reporter observed Friday.
Tensions around the cameras have run high nationwide, including in the greater Sacramento area, as residents raise concerns about surveillance, privacy and the growing ability of AI-powered systems to track where vehicles go.
The Grass Valley Police Department indefinitely suspended its use of Flock cameras last week after complaints from residents. In Placer County, at least 12 of Lincoln’s flock cameras have been vandalized this year.
A local activist group’s audit of automatic license plate readers in Elk Grove found that at least 290 agencies without data-sharing agreements and out-of-state, federal and non-governmental entities had searched the city’s data since 2021.
Lindsey Halsell, a volunteer with the activist group DeFlock Sac Metro, cited concerns around surveillance and privacy, and say the AI-enhanced capabilities are ripe for misuse.
“They’re effectively putting all of us under surveillance as suspects for crimes because they’re not issuing warrants, they’re not stating charges,” she said. “People should have a right to go about their lives without being constantly watched.”
The City of Folsom first contracted with Flock in March 2023, according to a copy of the contract provided to The Bee by DeFlock Sac Metro. The activist group said it obtained the document through a public records request.
The $76,400 contract included 12 Flock cameras, access to the company’s AI-powered advanced search software and extended data storage for two years. It contained a two-year renewal term with an annual recurring total of $36,100.
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proposing the purchase noted that the city already had 20 automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras from a different company but recommended the Flock cameras be placed south of Highway 50, “an area under continuous development.”
The cameras would deter construction thefts by “those who would enter the City to steal,” the report said.
The cameras vandalized last week were focused on opposite lanes of traffic on Oak Avenue, near the roadway’s intersection with Santa Juanita Avenue, which forms a partial border between Folsom and Orangevale.
Nai Saechao, who operates Nai’s Berry Farm along that stretch of Oak Avenue, said he noticed a Flock pole lying in his field on Tuesday, directly behind a fragment of pole that remained in the ground.
Police oversaw the camera and pole’s removal on Wednesday, he said.
The camera on the opposite side of the street also appeared to be damaged when observed by The Bee on Friday. The solar panel that powers the camera was punctured and shattered.
A representative for the Folsom Police Department said in an email that the estimated damage was $800 apiece.
That’s also the cost to replace a camera destroyed by vandalism, according to Flock’s reinstall fee schedule, unless a client purchases a special camera protection plan.
Folsom did not purchase that plan in 2023, according to the Flock contract provided by DeFlock Sac Metro.
The Folsom police spokesperson said he could not confirm the level of damage sustained by the cameras. The City of Folsom did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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