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Flock cameras go up in flames as cops hunt suspected firebugs
www.theregister.com

... Dougherty County Police Department (DCPD) near Albany, Georgia, is appealing for help from the local community after someone set two Flock Safety cameras on fire.

Police initially investigated whether the automated license plate readers (ALPRs) had malfunctioned. After examining evidence from both scenes, however, officers reclassified the incidents as criminal damage to property.

In an update communicated to journalists, reported by Fox 5 Atlanta, DCPD revealed nothing about what caused the fires at the 2400 block of Radium Springs Road near the intersection of Williamsburg Drive, nor did it offer any details about potential suspects that might help generate tips.

The locations provided by police closely correspond to two reported ALPR locations mapped on the deflock.org platform, a community-driven project to map these cameras across the US. ...


And Karoline Leavitt blamed Joe Biden for the spike in higher gas prices: "Stupid Biden!"

Guess the Republicans will soon start blaming POTUS Jimmy Carter for the problems Dummkopf Trump and Bibi caused.

...

More from the article ...

... oel Feder, director of content and product for The Drive, says the now-viral tale ultimately can be traced to human error. But he said the mix-up demonstrates why improvements are needed as police departments partner with Flock and its private network of AI-powered license plate readers.

"They need better guardrails," Feder told "NewsNation Prime" on Saturday.

Feder and his wife were stopped by Plymouth, Minnesota, police officers late last month on suspicion of driving with license plates that were reported as stolen.

Human error in stolen plate database triggered traffic stop, driver says

"Are you serious?" Feder is seen asking in police bodycam video.

Complicating matters: Feder was driving a luxury Land Rover that was on loan to him to evaluate. This also took some explaining, he says.

Eventually, the source of the confusion was identified. The New Jersey manufacturer plates on the loan-out read 34 10 DTM, with the "10" in smaller type size, Feder said. A human had entered a stolen license plate in Los Angeles as 34 DTM, which became part of a national database that Flock uses while surveilling traffic.

He said ideally, Flock would have alerted police about that extra "10" in his license plate. Feder says when he brought that issue up with the company, officials cited "current system limitations of what the police are asking for."

Making matters worse, Feder says, is that police departments like Plymouth's, once they realize an error has occurred, cannot update regional systems or the national database to help prevent additional stops that aren't necessary.

"It's a one-way pipe," he said.

Flock cameras did not misread his license plates in this instance, Feder said, but statistics provided by the company suggest there is a broader problem.

"Flock reads 20 billion plates a month, and they have a 99 -- according to them -- percent accuracy (rate). But 1% of 20 billion is like 200 million. That's a lot of misreads every month."...


Speaking of screwworms...

U.S. lifts ban on cattle imports from Mexico
www.upi.com

... The Department of Agriculture on Friday lifted a ban on cattle imports from Mexico that had been in place to contain the spread of a parasite threatening U.S. livestock.

USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins said Douglas, Ariz., would be the first port of entry to be open on Aug. 24.

All cattle imports from Mexico were halted by the Biden administration in November 2024, when the first cases of the flesh-eating New World screwworm were detected in the south of the country. ...


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