Cobb County residents air Flock camera concerns

Tonight, another packed town hall to talk about flop cameras. This one held by Cobb Police in light of the controversy Flock has been facing across the country. Fox 5's Denise Dillon is live in Cobb County tonight. Denise, both police and Flock were there to address answers and concerns that are out there. Yeah, and the crowd had plenty of questions tonight, including what flop cameras do, where is the information stored, and how easy is it to misuse the technology? Do they use a warrant when they're going after this information? You know, how protected is the information again? You know, do we keep it in perpetuity? Cobb County residents went into this town hall about flop cameras armed with questions and concerns. I don't feel comfortable with mass surveillance by government entities, and I don't see a real reason for it. The Cobb Police Department was the first law enforcement agency to have a flop camera. In 2019, they had five that they tested in South Cobb. And it was a dramatic reduction in that one area, just by implementing this. Almost seven years later, there are 182 cameras across the county, and they average about 2,000 alerts per month. Those alerts can range from wanted people for warrants, stolen vehicles, or missing people. Chief Dan Farrell says they've regularly done audits once a year and have seen no misuse by their officers. He says in light of what's happening across the country, they'll now be doing monthly audits, and the audit information will be made public. He says he knows the concerns are real. My concern is privacy. At what point will we have to like not be surveilled more and more? I don't believe in mass surveillance. It's a slippery slope when you start eroding our freedoms in the name of safety. Chief Farrell says they'll also be rewriting their policy after hearing from residents through a series of town hall meetings. What can we do from a policy standpoint to help alleviate some of those concerns? And there are two more town halls scheduled. The next one is tomorrow night in Powder Springs. Reporting live in Cobb County, Denise Dillon, Fox 5 News. Boy, it's a tough one because it really does help solve crimes on the one hand, and there are serious privacy issues on the other. Denise, thanks.