While Flock camera networks have been heavily criticized for their surveillance of criminals and non-criminals alike, many police agencies have embraced the technology. On Saturday one of the automated license plate readers got a hit on a stolen car in Red Bluff. Deputies and Red Bluff Police found the car unoccupied in the parking lot of the Ross Department Store and set up a perimeter, then waited for the occupants to return. When they did, they were quickly surrounded and arrested. Deputies say the driver, 36-year-old Ashley Reynolds, had also stolen merchandise from Ross. The Flock cameras are in widespread use, including in Shasta County. The Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors had approved funding for a Flock system, but the Sheriff declined to have them installed. The City of Chico uses a similar system operated by Motorola, but they’ve restricted access to the data to prevent them from being used by Federal Immigration Authorities.
-Steve Gibson