City Police Department addresses Flock cameras in Troy

TROY, Ala. (TROJANVISION) — A group of Troy residents are coming together to fight Flock Cameras around the City of Troy following a string of critical Facebook posts.

Michaela Miller is a Troy resident who recently expressed her worries about Flock cameras in the Check on Your People Troy, Alabama Facebook page. Until recently, she thought the cameras were found only in big cities, not little towns like ours, but a conversation with a family member showed her that she was mistaken. Suddenly, she began to worry for her privacy.

“These are collecting the data of people whether you do something wrong or not; which I would argue is a violation of your fourth amendment right to protection against warrantless search,” Miller said.

She says surveillance in the U.S. has increased to a level she’s uncomfortable with.

“For time the era before 9/11 when people talk about the amount of freedom they had to just go about their lives without being watched and surveilled – it sounds like fantasy,” Miller said.

As a mother, it’s a fantasy that she wishes her son could experience. She’s afraid he may grow up in a world where he has no choice but to be tracked.

“The big key is I want him to be able to opt out,” Miller said. “When I think of him living through a future where he has no choice in the matter, frankly, I don’t want that.”

According to Troy City Police Chief, Danny Barron, while the cameras can be misused for tracking people outside of criminal license plate recognition, TPD does frequent internal audits to ensure that it does not happen.

“So far – knock on wood – we have not encountered any problems with any of our officers misusing it,” Barron said. “Our officers know we have a policy in place on how it is to be used.”

Miller says she has no fight with TPD. She says she fully trusts the department and has never had a bad experience. Her fear extends outside of Troy city limits.

“My concern is with the larger system put in place because once a system is functioning, all it takes is one bad actor in the system to misuse it,” Miller said.

For TPD, though, the risk is worth the reward. They value the aid in fighting crime and they haven’t had a bad actor at their station yet.

“It would be a really sad day if these things were completely taken from us because if you as any detective that does this job, they’ll tell you that it’s a huge tool in helping them solve crimes,” Barron said.

Miller has created a Facebook group — DeFlock Troy – that is dedicated to convincing the city that in some residents’ opinions, privacy is too high a price to pay.

“While I appreciate that it makes fighting crime easier, we have to decide if it’s worth the effort,” Miller said. “In this country, we’ve made the decision in our legal system that you are innocent until proven guilty, and I would say Flock cameras functionally are saying you are guilty until proven innocent.”

TrojanVision will keep you updated with any updates regarding DeFlock Troy and the presence of the cameras around the city.