Link: https://www.wftv.com/news/local/man-arrested-oviedo-smashing-fake-police-flock-camera/DGVJZWV5QNAVDDLGAIFBPUXNGY/

Imagine all that effort put into catching someone smashing a stupid camera, it could've been used on a pedophile or something.

You've been warned, they're high on the lookout for Flock vandals now.

If the police didn't pay for it then who is the crime against?

Give that man a fake sentence.

Imagine all that effort put into catching someone smashing a stupid camera, it could’ve been used on a pedophile or something.

Now I'm just imagining them putting out a fake child as a pedo sting.

How can they charge him with destroying computer equipment if the camera was fake?

Bullshit charge

Does he have a bail fund?

I think someone needs to develop a portable, focusable beam-EMP device. So, you know, those soft, vulnerable electronics inside certain devices can be disabled remotely, invisibly, without such the need for inelegant tools such as angle-grinders and box-cutters.

I'd also say re-used Bluray/DVD lasers to burn out the camera CCD, but that would need to be done very carefully, only angling from above, to avoid risk to aircraft and definitely care to avoid any people nearby.

(I wonder if Flock cameras have some sort of laser-filtering on their lenses?)

Do Flock Camera towers use aluminum in any critical, ground-accessible parts? I hear mercury does nasty things to aluminum. But it's also toxic so would need to be handled carefully.

Not sure if EMP is practical, but a small drone with a laser requires much less power and wouldn't do the camera's sensor any good. A drone with a can of spray paint could also cause problems. So I hope no one does either of these.

Catch a Predator is a real thing

Meyer faces charges of grand theft, criminal mischief causing at least $1,000 in damage and damaging computer or electronic equipment.

Furthermore, nothing was stolen, so charging him with both grand theft and criminal mischief seems like a duplication of charges. Also, a fake camera is surely not worth over $1,000.

That’s what they do though

What about a drone with a can of thermite

Call me when they get these on the show.

If you point a fake gun at a police officer they put a real bullet in you. As far as I'm concerned, when the police point a fake camera at you, you take them at their word and assume malicious intent. This was not a crime. Awful but lawful.

I bought a high powered green laser for this.

Its a "throw the scary book" level of charges that look good on a press release.

With all the cameras being re-patriated by good citizens, I'm sure a number of them already made their way to skilled hackers, tinkerers.

And given how amateurish Flock was with their most recent PR event (a reporter tried to attend, got rejected almost last minute, Flock even went behind his back to cancel his hotel booking, so our guy went full out and with a metric fuckton of RF equipment, monitored the event's signals. WiFi, Bluetooth, wireless mics (which they often left on and just broadcasting out into the wild), I have a feeling that the whole Flock ecosystem is riddled with security issues.

I wouldn't be surprised if there's some incredibly dumb stupid kill switch built into the firmware that can be triggered by something as simple as an ESP32.

Fake flock heal hero.

Couldn't even use a real flock camera to catch the guy

I'd also say re-used Bluray/DVD lasers to burn out the camera CCD, but that would need to be done very carefully, only angling from above, to avoid risk to aircraft and definitely care to avoid any people nearby.

Just look behind it and don't point it at aircraft. If you can't see them they're either not there or behind clouds that will block a laser beam.

People reading this article and replying with smug gotchas are simply not getting fascism as a concept.

It's Florida the facts are how they decide they are

Why would the pedophiles go after their own? Of course they protect the camera.

There's no way this guy is guilty. I was playing checkers with him at my house when the alleged crime occurred.

Complicated methods don't scale well and tend to amp up the punishment you'll get if caught. They also make it easy to develop a profile of you.

A slingshot can be easily hidden/disposed, is stealthy when used, and dirt cheap.

Don't do this off of your Roblox server. And don't do it if you don't know where the person who'd be stopping you is. Alibi should be established before hand.

I remember it clearly, at this particular time I was also playing rock paper scissors with him.

Okay, but seriously, who has enough rust just sitting around to make that shit? You're like the third person I've seen talk about thermite, and that shit is ridiculous to make.

Then you have to go through all the trouble of somehow igniting the thermite and getting it away from your drone...

The same can really be said for a can of spray paint. I want to see someone actually design that shit before I'd believe it's possible. Maybe someone with a lot of tinkering time, but not the majority of us just trying to buy parts from a hobby store.

Oh no, this absolutely was a crime and absolutely illegal.

Unlawful, but a moral, responsible and respectable action. One which any reasonable and sane person would likely do the same.

The fakes do seem to work better

What about a satellite with an array of nuclear weapons? Thermite is such overkill, and risks harming the surroundings.

Someone mentioned gallium in another thread. Safer than mercury to handle, but you'll 1.) have to hope that the pipe is aluminum, and 2.) have to expose the aluminum because it will likely have a coating on that would prevent the gallium from weakening the aluminum.

Oh, and 3.) it will likely take a while for any effect to show.

It was a fake camera, but it was made of gold for some reason 🤷‍♂️

this is atrocious, the police aren't concerned with criminals, theyre concerned with control, dead ass hope the worst for the boys in blue over their now. they do not serve the people or the state in my eyes anymore, they're Gestapo.

Officers he can't possibly be guilty because that was the same time he was snorting cocaine out of my navel.

Is he wearing another jacket over his school uniform jacket? That would be a dress code violation in most schools.

IIRC he's wearing the uniform jacket inside out because he thought they were boring. (As to why the lining is that crazy looking, I have to assume the answer is "it was the 90s".)

lol I didn’t watch the show much. Wearing the uniform incorrectly would also be a dress code violation.

What a goddamn hero. Where is the gofundme?

Give them time. They'll probably say they found CSAM on him at some point. Of course it won't be true.

Good idea, if we blot out the sun with nuclear winter they can’t recharge.

Isn't that Dateline?

He was exploiting how badly written was the dress code, he also wore a necktie as a headband because it didn't specify where to wear it.

Why not just build a star-destroyer drone and aim it at the sun? Then Flock can't just wait it out and rebuild.

That's a good point, but what if some remnant of humanity survives and rebuilds on another planet, and one of the survivors remembers having seen a flock camera? We should destroy all matter in the universe. Or find some way to accelerate heat death?

Meyer faces charges of grand theft, criminal mischief causing at least $1,000 in damage and damaging computer or electronic equipment. His total bond was set at $7,500.

I'm sorry but which is it? Did he destroy a fake camera or did he destroy some real equipment worth money? You can't have it both ways you fucking pigs.

They can and do.

For the latter, could I suggest building a very large fridge and putting the universe inside it? We can attach it to a drone if that helps.

who has enough rust just sitting around to make that shit?

Amazon dot com.

This is a new kind of autism.

Exactly where every enterprising vandal should source their highly specific weapon of destruction...