Three Southold Flock cameras vandalized as attacks on license plate readers continue

Three Southold Flock cameras had their wires cut and lenses cracked last week — the latest damage to the town’s controversial license plate readers.

Police first noticed on Aug. 25 that two cameras on either side of Sound Avenue near Aldrich Lane in Laurel had their wires cut and lenses cracked, according to the latest police report. Detectives photographed the damage, and the report noted that one of the cameras had issued a “hit” the day before — alerting police to either a license plate that was either stolen or suspended.

Later that day, police found a third camera at Carroll Avenue and Middle Road in Peconic with its wires cut and lens cracked.

On Aug. 28, police found another camera at Main Street and Knapp Place in Greenport turned away from the roadway. The camera was not damaged. Police had found a camera in a similar position in Peconic in July, and Chief Steven Grattan said at the time it was difficult to know “if it was done intentionally or maybe a wind event that could have turned it.”

All three vandalized cameras were back in service this week, according to Capt. Scott Latham.

“The vigilanteism isn’t the way the to go,” Capt. Scott Latham told The Suffolk Times on Thursday. “Destroying them is a crime and they are a useful tool.

The latest incidents bring the number of tampered plate readers over the past two months to at least five.

The string of vandalism began over the July 4 weekend, when two Greenport cameras were splattered with paint and wires were pulled from one. One was on Main Street near the traffic circle and the other at Main Road and Manhasset Avenue.

Flock technicians came out later in July to address the damaged wiring, but one of the cameras remained out of service, according to Chief Grattan.

The Main Street camera was struck by a vehicle on July 27 and was not replaced. Chief Grattan said police did not know whether the collision was deliberate.

The camera at Manhanset Avenue and Main Road was vandalized a second time in early August, when red paint was splattered across it.

The town has 11 Flock cameras across the town, according to previous Suffolk Times reporting. The first four were installed in Mattituck in late 2022, with seven more later added in Southold, Greenport and East Marion. The Police Department purchased three for $3,000 each using grant funding, while the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office donated the other eight. 

Police have maintained their support for the cameras despite the repeated damage.

“We use the cameras for not only investigating crimes, but we’ve used them for locating missing persons as well,” Chief Grattan previously said.

Some residents, however, have continued to raise privacy concerns about the system.

“I think there are several reasons for pushback,” Chief Grattan previously told The Suffolk Times. “Concern about Fourth Amendment rights being violated, concern about data being sold to third parties.”