Surveillance Cameras: Community Debate in Montgomery County

Some would begin tonight with Flock cameras. We talk about them almost daily these days, and right now, there are some big decisions underway and have been made this past week in our area as cities and counties debate whether to keep them on public roads or not. Let's check in right now with McKenna Earnhardt, who's live in Montgomery County, to talk more about what's happening with them. And there's one near you, McKenna. Yeah, good evening, Melissa. I'm standing here off Hardin Store Road, right off of 249, near the Woodlands, and this is a Flock camera right here. If you didn't know, and if drivers coming by didn't know, there's a sign underneath it with arrows pointing up, making sure they do, saying this is a Flock surveillance camera, and underneath it, there is a little link to dflock.org. So that site, it's an open-source project, and it maps out these surveillance cameras nationwide so people know where roadside surveillance is located. Now, we reached out to dflock.org but have not heard back yet, but these signs are popping up at a time when local leaders across Houston are really split on what exactly to do with this technology. So just to recap what we've seen over the last few days, on Tuesday, Manville City Council voted unanimously to end their contract, ordering their cameras get shut down and covered up. Willis also officially shut off their camera system earlier this week, and over in Chambers County, the Sheriff's Office defended the technology on Wednesday, saying they actually plan to add more. And as for drivers here in Montgomery County, they seem split on these Flock cameras as well. I can see where a lot of people don't like them because of the invasive, and it seems like we're in a police state, but at the same time, it's also, I understand police are trying to catch criminals, so I mean, it's kind of, like I said, double-edged sword. I don't mind them at all. My opinion is if you're not doing anything wrong, then you don't have anything to worry about. Now, police agencies argue that these cameras are critical to helping fight crime. Now, we reached out to Montgomery County Sheriff's Office today, but did not hear back. But as for here on Hardin Store Road, there's about five or six of these cameras along this road, and every single one of them has a sign underneath it pointing up towards it, making sure drivers here know that they're there. Melissa, back to you.