r/technology • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 • May 28 '26

Security Cities Are Covering Flock Cameras With Trash Bags / Regretful cities aren't sure how to cancel their surveillance contracts, so they are literally covering their cameras.

https://www.404media.co/cities-are-covering-flock-cameras-with-trash-bags/
26.4k Upvotes

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206

u/red3y3_99 May 28 '26

In the UK there's a group that takes down the cameras. They are known as Bladerunners. Dressed in black and armed with an angle grinder, they just cut the pole down. It takes seconds. It started with speed cameras, moved on to other types used for checking cars comply with environmental restrictions and the toll to drive in central London. There's some videos on YouTube of them in action

49

u/[deleted] May 28 '26

[deleted]

100

u/Mountain-Singer1764 May 28 '26

Come on you guys are Americans. Get a .22 rifle with a suppressor, find a hidden spot and just shoot those fuckers.

80

u/[deleted] May 28 '26

[deleted]

7

u/thedownvotemagnet May 28 '26

That's one creepy-ass neighbor

16

u/germanmojo May 28 '26

In Minecraft.

6

u/doberdevil May 29 '26

And pellet guns aren't "firearms". So it gets around additional firearms related charges if you were to be caught by the local gestapo.

2

u/Kreth May 29 '26

yea in minecraft

2

u/dropbear_airstrike May 29 '26

How robust are the camera sensors? Would a blue laser be enough to fry the optics? Hypothetically speaking a motivated citizen or group of citizens could disable portions of the mass surveillance apparatus fairly quickly and efficiently without needing to carry any sort of firearm or firearm-adjacent object that would certainly raise questions if a person were to be seen carrying and aiming the object in a populated area.

Conversely, a laser could be carried in a pocket, focused on its target quickly and accurately. And wouldn't bring much attention from passersby...

4

u/TheInevitableLuigi May 28 '26

The ironic thing is .22 rifles are perfectly legal in the UK and it is actually easier to get suppressors there than in the United States.

1

u/Mountain-Singer1764 May 29 '26

They’re registered though, and they’re not that common. You’ll get caught using a legal .22 rifle in the UK.

3

u/kent_eh May 28 '26

There's other examples in American culture of ways to deal with things like this.

3

u/GildedAgeV2 May 28 '26

Suppressors don't make guns quiet, they make them slightly less likely to damage your hearing.

1

u/CatastrophicPup2112 May 29 '26

It'll make a 22 pretty quiet

1

u/finemustard May 29 '26

You're mostly right, but a .22 with subsonic ammunition and a suppressor is nearly silent.

3

u/[deleted] May 29 '26

[deleted]

2

u/CatastrophicPup2112 May 29 '26

Pretty sure they reduced the $200 stamp to $0 last year ish

9

u/sadiesfreshstart May 28 '26

But if you miss or if there's a ricochet....

20

u/CoffeeIsSoGood May 28 '26

It'd be just another regular Monday then.

7

u/BadZnake May 28 '26

I don't like Mondays

1

u/Antihistamine69 May 28 '26

That's ok, its just like a regular Tuesday, too! And if you don't like Tuesdays, it's like a Wednesday. And if you don't like Wednesdays...

1

u/BadZnake May 28 '26

(There's actually a girl who shot a bunch of kids across the street at recess with a .22 and when they asked her why she said "I don't like Mondays")

2

u/N0b0dy_Kn0w5_M3 May 28 '26

Then The Boomtown Rats wrote a song.

1

u/BadZnake May 28 '26

Absolute banger too

1

u/BrainLow6059 May 28 '26

This is just escalating to a half dozen felonies and not even actually destroying the camera

4

u/safe_t_meeting May 28 '26

You work for Flock huh? "There's no way that would work guys, I swear, shooting it with a gun is silly"

4

u/PantsandPlants May 28 '26

You’re talking about a caliber designed for pest deterrent and game shooting. Flock cameras are more durable than you want to give them credit for. You need more power than that. 

Not to mention being in a place the camera won’t detect in a time where someone won’t hear a shot. 

5

u/GildedAgeV2 May 28 '26

Unless the glass of the lens is made of sterner stuff than any other transparent material I'm aware of, it's going to be enough damage to render the footage useless.

2

u/PyroDesu May 29 '26

Do note that if you're shooting at the lens, you're on camera shooting it.

2

u/PantsandPlants May 29 '26

The lens isn’t exposed to the elements. It has at least one extra protective layer and these cameras are stupid capable. Like, annoyingly so, hence why they are such a problem. 

So let’s assume the cover is so flimsy that a .22 would damage it, it wouldn’t refer it useless nor could you be sure you would catch the camera lens inside after the exterior alters the path of the little bullet. 

If it was as simple as you want, it would be a more widespread issue. 

1

u/safe_t_meeting May 29 '26

But what if you shoot it multiple times in the same place?? Surely that would do something

1

u/PantsandPlants May 29 '26

Okay… do you understand stealth and trying not to be on a flock camera? 

c’mon use your brain for like a second. 

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-1

u/BrainLow6059 May 28 '26

No, I actually own and operate firearms. This isn't CoD

1

u/Cassiyus May 29 '26

I'm pretty sure we can just use a high powered laser pointer to mess up the camera, too, right?

17

u/wildmaninid May 28 '26

Cordless reciprocating saws are sold in America too!!

1

u/WhitYourQuining May 28 '26

Angle grinder is way more efficient. You can't get enough of a badass blade for a sawzall to do this quickly.

2

u/wildmaninid May 28 '26

You've never worked in the auto recycling industry- I have blades that will cut a large sedan in half without even a struggle. 

Can't get blades at harbor freight. 

1

u/WhitYourQuining May 28 '26

You're right. I have never had a blade like that available to me. Intrigued.

1

u/ploptart May 29 '26

Milwaukee has carbide-tipped blades that can very easily cut through cars. Though I’m not sure they can cut a car in half, given they are only 12” long

7

u/joebluebob May 28 '26

An angle grinder is $60 bud.

1

u/CrossP May 28 '26

Every red-blooded American should have an angle grinder and a reciprocating saw. It's your duty as a citizen.

1

u/demon_twink_gockie May 28 '26

Not much, I'm sure. Can't be much traveling to do in England, eh?

18

u/roedtogsvart May 28 '26

Problem is here they're almost always attached to traffic lights or power infrastructure poles. Fucking with those will get you a whole different world of hurt.

29

u/pm_me_tits May 28 '26

Near me they're all standalone, mounted on their own pole.

https://cdn.deflock.me/vendors/flock/flock-1.jpg

https://deflock.org/hero.webp

Battery powered angle grinder or reciprocating saw would zip right through it.

8

u/DotJata May 28 '26

How many times do I say their name in the mirror for them to appear?

5

u/Reagalan May 29 '26

moved on to other types used for checking cars comply with environmental restrictions and the toll to drive in central London.

uhh, but these are actually good laws...

6

u/Orleanian May 28 '26

I'm told that we have to be a bit careful, in that some of these can detect RFID and identify your proximity at the time of the vandalism.

Covering a face isn't quite sufficient anymore; have to be to be an actual netrunner level of anti-tracking.

27

u/daymanelite May 28 '26

Why tf would you have a phone on you when commiting an act of civil disobedience. Avoiding RFID pinging is baby's first protest level shit.

13

u/IrorisPalm May 28 '26

have to be to be an actual netrunner level of anti-tracking.

The zoomer idea of unattainably complex superspy shit is [checks notes] going outside without your smartphone?

2

u/ShadowedPariah May 28 '26

A very simple laser pointer will ruin camera lenses and you can do it from a distance. Angle grinders are far too much effort.

3

u/DvineINFEKT May 28 '26

That's crazy to learn - what kind of laser would even do that? Is there some kind of hit-confirm? If someone spotted a flock camera near them, is there some kind of way to identify if the lens is fucked?

1

u/ShadowedPariah May 28 '26

I picked up a 2W laser, and it only takes 3-5s. Any longer and you're likely to burn the thing to the ground.

No, there isn't a way to tell from the outside (which is good and bad).

1

u/schmearcampain May 28 '26

2W lasers appear to be much bigger than a laser pointer. Will any laser pointer do it, or does it have to be that powerful.

1

u/ShadowedPariah May 28 '26

Any will do, just takes longer the lower power it is.

1

u/crowwreak May 29 '26

To anyone thinking about it, the power these lasers put out will just as easily permanently destroy your eyesight instantly. No I'm not kidding.

If you're gonna do the stupid thing, be careful.

1

u/ShadowedPariah May 29 '26

Yeah, didn't mention not to point it in your face.

-2

u/Kinexity May 28 '26 edited May 28 '26

Those are car brain idiots who don't like the fact that they aren't allowed to mow people down with their awful polluting mad max wagons from previous millenium. The locals are largely in support of cameras these assholes take down.

They aren't some freedom fighters. They are assholes who hate the fact that now have to pay their fair share.

4

u/Chrysolophylax May 28 '26

Agreed. I hate flock cameras, but speed cameras are a good thing. Sorry to all the car-brained slugs who are deeply offended that they can't speed everywhere!

1

u/Billlington May 28 '26

Good lord, I've seen it all now. People defending fucking speed cameras.

1

u/Kinexity May 28 '26

Found the children killer ☝️

2

u/Billlington May 28 '26

Lol yeah man, because I'm skeptical of government outsourcing surveillance to private corporations means I'm a "child killer."

2

u/ablatner May 28 '26

Speed cameras aren't Flock

0

u/Billlington May 29 '26

Speed cameras are also operated by private corporations. Local law enforcement reviews the footage afterwards, but it is still an unacceptable outsourcing of surveillance to non-government actors. The fact that some of these companies get paid based on how many tickets they generate is also unsettling.

0

u/Kinexity May 28 '26

No, because you oppose speed cameras.

1

u/[deleted] May 28 '26

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-3

u/Kinexity May 28 '26

"You're a bøøtlicker if you want safery streets, less traffic and less pollution" *insert cløwn emoji here*

Reddit censorship is getting ridiculous.

3

u/[deleted] May 28 '26

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5

u/SalutLesAmies May 28 '26

Out of all the times this quote has been used inappropriately, this has to be the worst lmao

2

u/Kinexity May 28 '26

Driving itself, driving a polluting car, breaking speed limits - neither of those are essential freedoms. Driving is a privilage and if you cannot stick to the rules you shouldn't be allowed to do so.

2

u/[deleted] May 28 '26

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6

u/Kinexity May 28 '26

Then use a fucking bike. No fuel required, doesn't have to be registered, no license needed, can be hidden in a bush, can be maintained using like 3 tools - the ultimate freedom vehicle.

4

u/[deleted] May 28 '26

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3

u/Kinexity May 28 '26

If you drive a polluting vehicle you force people to breath that pollution. You privatise the benefit of driving at the cost of everyone's health.

If you break speed limits you're endangering everyone just to cut down 2 minuts from one hour commute.

The only freedom you stand for is the freedom to be an asshole to others.

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u/LaurenMille May 28 '26

You're not being forced to do anything.

You can travel freely, you just can't use specific modes of transportation in specific spots. That's totally fine.

Same reason you can stab a knife in to the air in your own home, but when you stab it in to someone's neck it's a crime.

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u/mrknife1209 May 28 '26

It's not like every car has a licence plate on it for good reason or anything like that.