As Wisconsin cities flee Flock, its shared camera network loses value
As Wisconsin cities flee Flock, its shared camera network loses value
随着威斯康星州各城市纷纷弃用 Flock，其共享摄像头网络的价值正在缩水
Perhaps it’s the local summer diet of deep-fried cheese curds, corn on the cob, and Spotted Cow, but Wisconsin residents have been feeling pretty dyspeptic about Flock’s automated license plate cameras. Over the past few months, a spate of Wisconsin towns and cities have withdrawn from Flock deals over privacy and trust concerns. As they did so, another issue revealed itself: With each city that leaves, the Flock network becomes less useful to the cities that remain. And cities are starting to notice. 也许是因为当地夏季饮食中充斥着油炸奶酪凝乳、玉米棒和 Spotted Cow 啤酒，威斯康星州的居民对 Flock 的自动车牌识别摄像头感到相当不满。过去几个月里，威斯康星州的一系列城镇因隐私和信任问题退出了与 Flock 的合作。随着这些城市的退出，另一个问题显现出来：每有一个城市离开，Flock 网络对留下的城市而言就变得越发无用。而各城市也开始注意到这一点。
Consider Dane County, which includes the city of Madison. It’s one of the most populous counties in Wisconsin. It was also a significant Flock user, with a contract for 24 license plate cameras. But after complaints from citizens and privacy experts, the Dane County Board of Supervisors on April 16 voted to cut the $80,000 in county funding for Flock cameras and banned “further expenditures on the system.” 以包含麦迪逊市在内的戴恩县（Dane County）为例。它是威斯康星州人口最多的县之一，也是 Flock 的重要用户，曾签署了 24 台车牌摄像头的合同。但在遭到市民和隐私专家的投诉后，戴恩县监事会于 4 月 16 日投票决定削减 8 万美元的县级 Flock 摄像头资金，并禁止“在该系统上进行进一步支出”。
“There are well-documented concerns about how this company operates and uses its technology to violate people’s Fourth Amendment rights [against unreasonable searches],” said County Board Chair Patrick Miles. “The board’s action supports protecting our community from a proven bad actor. We have full confidence in our Sheriff and deputies, and we are open to considering other companies that have stronger safeguards in place.” “关于这家公司如何运营及其如何利用技术侵犯人们的第四修正案权利（反对不合理搜查），已有充分记录的担忧，”县监事会主席帕特里克·迈尔斯（Patrick Miles）表示。“监事会的行动旨在保护我们的社区免受已被证实的不良行为者的侵害。我们对我们的警长和副警长充满信心，我们也愿意考虑其他拥有更强保障措施的公司。”
The county’s Flock cameras soon went dark, cutting off Dane County data from the 140 other law enforcement agencies that had once accessed it. Many of these agencies were local, but they also included cops in Missouri, New York, and Tennessee. (As for the city of Madison itself, it has avoided Flock cameras altogether. The city says it does not use any “automatic license plate readers, gunshot detection systems, or gait analysis software.”) 该县的 Flock 摄像头很快停止了工作，切断了戴恩县与曾经访问过该数据的其他 140 个执法机构的联系。这些机构中许多是当地的，但也包括密苏里州、纽约州和田纳西州的警察。（至于麦迪逊市本身，它完全避开了 Flock 摄像头。该市表示，它不使用任何“自动车牌识别器、枪声检测系统或步态分析软件”。）
Monona, another Dane County city, in early May announced that its Flock contract was “under review.” The Monona police chief supports license plate cameras and said that Flock had helped solve “an enticement case involving a suspect who transported a vulnerable adult across state lines.” Still, local police were concerned about “privacy considerations” and “maintaining community trust and accountability.” 戴恩县的另一个城市莫诺纳（Monona）在 5 月初宣布其 Flock 合同“正在审查中”。莫诺纳警察局长支持使用车牌摄像头，并表示 Flock 曾帮助解决了一起“涉及嫌疑人将弱势成年人跨州运输的诱拐案件”。尽管如此，当地警方仍对“隐私考量”以及“维护社区信任和问责制”表示担忧。
Because much of Flock’s value comes from access to cameras in other jurisdictions, the loss of Dane County and Monona meant Flock was suddenly less useful to nearby police departments. The town of McFarland, which neighbors Monona, announced on May 15 that it would not move forward with its plan to deploy Flock cameras “in light of a shrinking database in Dane County and input from residents.” 由于 Flock 的大部分价值来自于对其他司法管辖区摄像头的访问权限，戴恩县和莫诺纳的流失意味着 Flock 对附近警察局的效用突然降低了。与莫诺纳相邻的麦克法兰镇（McFarland）在 5 月 15 日宣布，鉴于“戴恩县数据库的萎缩以及居民的意见”，该镇将不再推进部署 Flock 摄像头的计划。
“Once Dane County lost their funding for Flock, we lost about half of the potential camera network within Dane County,” said McFarland Chief of Police Brian Redman in a statement. “I had to ask, ‘Were we still going to get the return on our investment with that loss?’ With the network being chipped away, that wasn’t going to be the case.” “一旦戴恩县失去了 Flock 的资金，我们就失去了戴恩县内约一半的潜在摄像头网络，”麦克法兰警察局长布莱恩·雷德曼（Brian Redman）在一份声明中说。“我不得不问，‘在那种损失下，我们还能获得投资回报吗？’随着网络被蚕食，情况显然不再如此了。”
On May 26, the nearby city of Fitchburg voted to discontinue its own Flock subscription. According to Channel 3000 News, local leaders “cited concerns about the national search feature in the current Flock model, saying the city cannot definitively determine how data searched by other areas is being used.” 5 月 26 日，附近的菲奇堡市（Fitchburg）投票决定停止其 Flock 订阅。据 Channel 3000 新闻报道，当地领导人“提到了对当前 Flock 模型中全国搜索功能的担忧，称该市无法明确确定其他地区搜索的数据是如何被使用的。”
The University of Wisconsin police force in Madison then announced on July 3 that “after careful and thoughtful consideration,” it would not renew its Flock deal. Like many local communities, the campus police force still believes in the technology—just not in Flock. Instead, the campus will find “an automated license plate reader (ALPR) vendor that better meets UW-Madison’s public safety needs.” 随后，麦迪逊的威斯康星大学警察局在 7 月 3 日宣布，“经过仔细和深思熟虑”，将不再续签 Flock 合同。像许多当地社区一样，校园警察局仍然相信这项技术，只是不再信任 Flock。相反，校园将寻找“一家更能满足威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校公共安全需求的自动车牌识别（ALPR）供应商”。
On July 28, the nearby city of Stoughton also voted to cancel its own Flock contract, paying a $12,500 early buyout fee after intense local opposition to the devices. This happened even though police said that, only 14 minutes after entering the license plate into Flock, the cameras helped them find a “missing/runaway 15 yr old juvenile who took parents’ vehicle.” In just a few months, the Madison-area license plate camera situation changed dramatically. 7 月 28 日，附近的斯托顿市（Stoughton）也投票取消了其 Flock 合同，在当地对该设备的强烈反对下，支付了 12,500 美元的提前解约费。尽管警方表示，在将车牌输入 Flock 后仅 14 分钟，摄像头就帮助他们找到了“一名开走父母车辆的失踪/离家出走的 15 岁少年”，但该市还是做出了这一决定。在短短几个月内，麦迪逊地区的车牌摄像头情况发生了巨大变化。
Fox Valley blues
福克斯谷（Fox Valley）的忧虑
A similar story has played out in northeastern Wisconsin. Oshkosh ended its Flock contract in April, while its northern neighbor, Appleton, announced in May that it, too, would stop using Flock. Nearby Grand Chute canceled its Flock deal in early June, switching to a competing product from Axon. Grand Chute Police Chief David Maas told Fox 11 News that the Axon system “benefits the community in multiple ways and also respects resident privacy in a way that feels more comfortable, quite honestly.” 类似的故事也在威斯康星州东北部上演。奥什科什（Oshkosh）在 4 月终止了 Flock 合同，而其北部的邻居阿普尔顿（Appleton）也在 5 月宣布将停止使用 Flock。附近的格兰德舒特（Grand Chute）在 6 月初取消了 Flock 合同，转而使用 Axon 的竞争产品。格兰德舒特警察局长大卫·马斯（David Maas）告诉福克斯 11 新闻，Axon 系统“以多种方式造福社区，而且老实说，它以一种让人感觉更舒适的方式尊重了居民的隐私。”
With local communities bailing, the nearby city of Kaukauna announced in July that it would not renew its Flock contract, either. Kaukauna explicitly said that “one of the main functionalities that appealed to the city was the ability to work with area communities also using Flock ALPRs to identify suspects traveling outside of city limits.” 随着当地社区纷纷退出，附近的考考纳市（Kaukauna）在 7 月宣布也不会续签 Flock 合同。考考纳明确表示，“吸引该市的主要功能之一是能够与同样使用 Flock ALPR 的周边社区合作，以识别在城市边界外活动的嫌疑人。”
With so many Flock cameras going offline, “It is not fiscally responsible for the city to continue to invest in the Flock cameras with the concerns that have been raised and the inability to partner with area communities,” said Jamie Graff, City of Kaukauna Chief of Police. 随着如此多的 Flock 摄像头下线，“考虑到已经提出的担忧以及无法与周边社区合作的现状，该市继续投资 Flock 摄像头在财政上是不负责任的，”考考纳警察局长杰米·格拉夫（Jamie Graff）表示。
Network effects can run backward
网络效应也可能产生反向作用
It would be too much to say that the cities have given up on automated license plate readers. Many of the places severing ties with Flock this year have made clear that they hope to find another system that better meets their needs and values. And a map of license plate cameras in Wisconsin still shows many in use, including… 说这些城市已经放弃了自动车牌识别器还为时过早。今年许多与 Flock 断绝关系的地区都明确表示，他们希望找到另一个更能满足其需求和价值观的系统。而威斯康星州的车牌摄像头地图仍然显示有许多摄像头正在使用中，包括……