‘Get flock out of G-port’: North Fork license plate cameras targeted again

Southold police received three more reports of tampering with Flock cameras in Greenport over a recent one-week stretch as vandals continue to target the controversial license plate readers.

The camera at the corner of Moores Lane and Front Street was tampered with on Oct. 13, when someone covered it with a plastic bag and pulled wires from the back of the camera, according to police.

It was targeted again the next day, when an officer discovered its lens covered with tape and a cardboard sign posted on the pole, reading “Get flock out of G-port, f**k ICE, f**k Trump, and board of trustees, do your job,” Southold Town Police Chief Steven Grattan told The Suffolk Times Tuesday.

Another camera, at the intersection of Knapp Place and Main Street, was also damaged Oct. 14. An officer found its wires cut and a portion of the snipped wire in the street.

“It’s more frequently occurring in Greenport,” Chief Grattan said. “The one on Knapp and Main has been damaged three or four times now.”

That camera, near the Greenport traffic circle, was initially covered with paint before it was struck by a car on July 27, as The Suffolk Times previously reported.

A separate camera at Main Road and Manhanset Avenue was vandalized again in August after being damaged over the July 4 weekend. Another camera, in Peconic, was turned away from the road in July. Police could not determine whether it was moved intentionally or by wind.

It was not the first sign posted on the Moores Lane camera. A previous one read “I’m a flock camera, I’m watching your kids.”

No arrests have been made.

“Every one of these incidents, we have our detectives head out there and process the scene and take any evidence from it,” Chief Grattan said. “We’re hoping to get to a point where we have a suspect, and of course, we’re going to pursue it like any other crime.”

Chief Grattan said officials have discussed moving the cameras, but relocation would cost the town money and could require permits or approvals from the state, county or town, depending on the new locations.

That expense is not currently budgeted for, he said.

“Our goal was to position Flock cameras in a way where we would be able to determine if there was a stolen vehicle or a wanted person,” he said, “whether or not they were coming into town from Orient or from the ferry or coming to town from the west.

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

The department purchased three cameras for $3,000 apiece using grant funding, while the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office donated the other eight.