Three teenagers in South Carolina were taken into custody for allegedly cutting down a Flock Safety camera pole and damaging its battery pack with a hammer until it burst into flames, authorities reported.
The incident occurred in the early hours of August 15 along Harmony Church Road in Edgemoor, located in Chester County, according to local reports citing the Chester County Sheriff’s Office.
Authorities revealed that the teens brought down the pole and then struck the battery, which caused a fire. Damage from the incident is estimated to be over $5,000.
The arrested individuals, identified as Blaze Fuller, Samuel Carlisle, and James Ryerson, all 19 years old, face charges of criminal conspiracy and malicious injury to personal property, as per jail records.
Fuller was booked on August 18 and released the next day after posting a $5,000 bond. Carlisle and Ryerson were booked on the same day and released the following day as well.
The fire raised concerns for nearby residents. David Cunupp, who lives in the area, expressed worry that his home could have caught fire had it not been for the rain. He mentioned he didn’t outright oppose the cameras but felt uneasy about a private company managing such surveillance technology.
“They might serve a good purpose, but I don’t think a private company should control it instead of the government,” Cunupp mentioned.
The sheriff’s office has yet to comment on the incident. The vandalism adds to ongoing discussions around Flock’s automated license plate reader network, which has faced pushback from privacy advocates, local officials, and lawmakers due to concerns about data collection and surveillance.
Senator Josh Hawley, who heads the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, recently initiated an investigation into Flock. He criticized the company for establishing what he described as an extensive national surveillance system comprising over 120,000 cameras and billions of vehicle scans each month.
In a letter to Flock’s CEO, Hawley questioned the implications of using artificial intelligence to compile data on a national scale instead of limiting operations to local investigations, which align more closely with constitutional safeguards.
Flock spokesperson Paris Lewbel indicated that the company intends to address Hawley’s inquiries and looks forward to illustrating the safeguards in place for their technology.
While opponents of the cameras condemn acts of vandalism, they advocate for addressing the concerns through lawful means. Some local governments, like those in Texas, have opted to sever ties with Flock due to privacy concerns, taking steps to disable or cover the cameras until they can be fully removed.
Constable John Shirley noted that the cameras had been continuously monitoring ordinary citizens. He argued against permanent, warrantless tracking, stating that privacy should be paramount in a free society.
The ongoing debate surrounding the cameras has prompted various communities, from Texas to Arizona, to reevaluate or terminate their contracts with Flock due to fears surrounding data privacy and potential misuse.
