By JIM BUTLER
There seems no middle ground regarding Flock cameras.
Either they are viewed (no pun intended) as a valuable law enforcement asset or as an unacceptable invasion of privacy.
According to a New York Times story, there are 120,000 of them photographing passing vehicles round the clock every day.
Images accompanying this report show locations in Rapides, according to Flock.
It’s possible you’ve not paid attention to any of them you might have driven by but they have paid attention to you.
The cameras record license plate numbers as well as pinning down make and model of every vehicle whizzing by.
That data is gathered in a single data base by Flock, then shared with law enforcement agencies on a fee basis. And sharing between agencies in effect creates a national traffic surveillance network.
According to the NYT story, the company says it scans 20 billion plates a month. There are 300 million registered vehicles in the nation. Do the math — lots of tags are scanned many times.
Police use the resulting data to track stolen vehicles, locate fleeing or hiding suspects and carry out other law enforcement activity.
Privacy rights advocates, however, say the cameras are a step too far. There is no justification, they argue, for keeping an electronic eye on drivers just going about their daily lives.
Such practice, they argue, creates an avenue to any number of civil liberty violations or abuse.
While that difference of opinion moves slowly toward resolution cars and trucks whiz by.