18-year-old arrested after cutting down Flock camera in California

Witnesses in Riverside County reportedly flagged down deputies and provided them with the license plate number of a vehicle belonging to the suspect, identified as Andrew Anderson. Deputies were then able to track the vehicle to Anderson’s home.

The teen was arrested on suspicion of grand theft and felony vandalism. Authorities also recovered the camera that had allegedly been cut down, and it is expected to be returned to Flock.

The arrest follows a separate incident in which another man in Riverside County was arrested for allegedly targeting Flock cameras.

Flock Safety cameras are automatic license plate readers installed throughout American cities and used by law enforcement agencies. The cameras can record license plate numbers and identify certain characteristics of vehicles, including dents, scratches, and other distinguishing features.

The alleged vandalism is the latest in a series of incidents involving so-called “de-Flock” activists who have taken it upon themselves to disable or remove the camera, citing privacy and surveillance concerns. Growing opposition to the cameras has become bipartisan, with many on the left raising concerns the cameras could be used to assist immigration enforcement and deportations.

Republican Senator Josh Hawley, meanwhile, launched an investigation into Flock Safety last week over the company’s AI-powered surveillance cameras. Hawley sent a letter to Flock Safety CEO Garrett Langley demanding answers about what safeguards the company has in place.

“In a few short years, Flock has assembled an unprecedented national surveillance network. Your company boasts more than 120,000 cameras across 49 states and more than 20 billion vehicle scans every month. The overwhelming majority of the Americans captured in those records did nothing wrong. Instead of serving discrete local investigations, as contemplated by our constitutional processes and safeguards, these camera networks harness artificial intelligence to pool what they capture into a national database that customers can search,” Hawley wrote. “Congress never authorized the network your industry has built.”