All of Winona Police Department's Flock cameras cut down and stolen • Hacker News Board

Re: All of Winona Police Department's Flock cameras cut down and stolen

#11

Post by lukan » Tue, Aug 04, 2026, 6:16 PM UTC

NDlurker wrote: post #2

WINONA, Minn. (Valley News Live) - Every Flock license plate reader camera operated by the Winona Police Department has been sawed off and stolen in what investigators believe was a coordinated theft. All eight cameras were taken Aug. 1, according to the Winona Police Department. A patrol officer first noticed the cameras had not sent any alerts in 24 hours. When officers checked the locations, they found the cameras…

LLM summary I suppose?

Who would include "Anyone with information is asked to contact the Winona Police Department." in a HN comment?

Re: All of Winona Police Department's Flock cameras cut down and stolen

#12

Post by jgbuddy » Tue, Aug 04, 2026, 6:17 PM UTC

Find flock cameras near you here! https://maps.deflock.org/

Re: All of Winona Police Department's Flock cameras cut down and stolen

#13

Post by ortusdux » Tue, Aug 04, 2026, 6:17 PM UTC

nchmy wrote: post #3

> Each camera is valued at approximately $3,000, putting the total loss at roughly $24,000. That cost falls directly on the Winona Police Department’s budget. Only if they replace them...

Are they contractually obligated to replace them? IIRC, some municipalities have been covering the cameras with trash bags because they cannot turn them off or remove them until their contract expires.

Re: All of Winona Police Department's Flock cameras cut down and stolen

#14

Post by thegrim33 » Tue, Aug 04, 2026, 6:18 PM UTC

monkpit wrote: post #10

nchmy wrote: post #3

> Each camera is valued at approximately $3,000, putting the total loss at roughly $24,000. That cost falls directly on the Winona Police Department’s budget. Only if they replace them...

That would make the loss $48,000 ;)

Wait until you find out where they get the money from to replace them

Re: All of Winona Police Department's Flock cameras cut down and stolen

#15

Post by NDlurker » Tue, Aug 04, 2026, 6:18 PM UTC

lukan wrote: post #11

NDlurker wrote: post #2

WINONA, Minn. (Valley News Live) - Every Flock license plate reader camera operated by the Winona Police Department has been sawed off and stolen in what investigators believe was a coordinated theft. All eight cameras were taken Aug. 1, according to the Winona Police Department. A patrol officer first noticed the cameras had not sent any alerts in 24 hours. When officers checked the locations, they found the cameras…

LLM summary I suppose? Who would include "Anyone with information is asked to contact the Winona Police Department." in a HN comment?

That right there is the FA from the acronym RTFA

Re: All of Winona Police Department's Flock cameras cut down and stolen

#16

Post by gowld » Tue, Aug 04, 2026, 6:18 PM UTC

jeremyberemy wrote: post #8

> Police use the technology to investigate crimes such as hit-and-runs and to locate missing persons. > No suspects have been identified. Yeah, that tracks. > Camera data is owned by the police department and permanently deleted after 30 days. I assume this means that the police department deletes one local copy?

No, Flock plays a semantic game where data on Flock's servers os "owned" by the client, so Flock is not responsible for the content or management of the data.

Re: All of Winona Police Department's Flock cameras cut down and stolen

#17

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Aug 04, 2026, 6:19 PM UTC

lukan wrote: post #11

NDlurker wrote: post #2

WINONA, Minn. (Valley News Live) - Every Flock license plate reader camera operated by the Winona Police Department has been sawed off and stolen in what investigators believe was a coordinated theft. All eight cameras were taken Aug. 1, according to the Winona Police Department. A patrol officer first noticed the cameras had not sent any alerts in 24 hours. When officers checked the locations, they found the cameras…

LLM summary I suppose? Who would include "Anyone with information is asked to contact the Winona Police Department." in a HN comment?

[deleted]

Re: All of Winona Police Department's Flock cameras cut down and stolen

#18

Post by jbs789 » Tue, Aug 04, 2026, 6:19 PM UTC

nchmy wrote: post #3

> Each camera is valued at approximately $3,000, putting the total loss at roughly $24,000. That cost falls directly on the Winona Police Department’s budget. Only if they replace them...

Haha I had the same thought.

Re: All of Winona Police Department's Flock cameras cut down and stolen

#19

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Aug 04, 2026, 6:19 PM UTC

lukan wrote: post #11

NDlurker wrote: post #2

WINONA, Minn. (Valley News Live) - Every Flock license plate reader camera operated by the Winona Police Department has been sawed off and stolen in what investigators believe was a coordinated theft. All eight cameras were taken Aug. 1, according to the Winona Police Department. A patrol officer first noticed the cameras had not sent any alerts in 24 hours. When officers checked the locations, they found the cameras…

LLM summary I suppose? Who would include "Anyone with information is asked to contact the Winona Police Department." in a HN comment?

[deleted]

Re: All of Winona Police Department's Flock cameras cut down and stolen

#20

Post by dhosek » Tue, Aug 04, 2026, 6:19 PM UTC

One thing I’ve learned from reading accounts of Flock camera thefts is that you shouldn’t do more than one per outing. This sounds like a group arranged to do them all at once which also works.