Greenport Flock camera vandalized for second time in two months

What the Flock is going on in Greenport?

The controversial license plate reader camera at the intersection of Manhasset Avenue and Main Road was vandalized for the second time in the past two months, Southold police said.

The camera was previously damaged over the July 4 weekend when it was splattered with paint and had wires pulled, according to police.

Flock came out roughly two weeks ago to address the damaged wires, but the camera remained out of service, according to Southold Police Chief Steven Grattan. Then, on Aug. 6, a department member driving past noticed it had been splattered with fresh red paint, he added.

“The paint that was splattered on it initially didn’t cause any obstruction of the camera,” Chief Grattan told The Suffolk Times on Tuesday. “We were advised by Flock that the camera was still operational, even though wires were unplugged. But it is not, and it has remained out of service. Now there’s paint on it.”

The incident follows problems with two other Southold Flock cameras last month.

One on Main Street near the traffic circle was covered with paint before it was struck by a car on July 27. Officers saw tire tracks leading to the camera and determined it was inoperable due to the damage. It has since been removed but not replaced.

Another camera, in Peconic, was turned away from the road last month as well. Police couldn’t say whether it was moved around the same time or “if it was done intentionally or maybe a wind event that could have turned it.” It has since been turned back around.

Chief Grattan has previously said he understands residents’ concerns about the technology, but said Southold uses “the cameras for not only investigating crimes, but we’ve used them for locating missing persons as well.”

The cameras have drawn growing scrutiny over privacy, oversight and who can access the data they collect. Southold residents pressed Town Board members at an April 7 meeting to reconsider the town’s use of the technology amid concerns about Fourth Amendment protections and the sharing of license plate data with outside agencies.

The debate has also reached Albany. A bill introduced in the state Senate in April would restrict how government agencies can use and share automatic license plate reader data, generally require captured plate information to be deleted within 48 hours and mandate annual public reports detailing camera locations, searches and access to the data.

Flock officials have said local agencies control access to and sharing of their data, that searches are logged and that license plate data is automatically deleted after a locally determined retention period, which is 30 days by default.

Southold’s first four Flock cameras were installed in Mattituck in late 2022, according to Chief Grattan. Seven additional cameras were installed last year in Southold, Greenport and East Marion, bringing the townwide total to 11.

The Police Department purchased three of the cameras for $3,000 each using grant funding, while the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office donated the remaining eight.