• Buffalox@lemmy.world
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    6 days ago

    Well done. These cameras should be illegal.

    Replacing the stolen license plate readers will cost Winona roughly $24,000 total.

    Why is it up to the city to foot the bill for the losses of a private company?

    • unwarlikeExtortion@lemmy.ml
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      6 days ago

      Because the city/PD wants it. That’s why they’re paying for it, and why they’ll probably pay for the new ones.

    • CmdrShepard49@sh.itjust.works
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      6 days ago

      Because they want to manufacture whatever stance they can to make themselves look like the poor victim of some “unhinged” vigilante to turn the public against heroes like this. News stations have been hammering this point on stories like this. “Oh, poor children in our city are going to go hungry now because we have to use this money to replace the cameras. Also 30 murderers and 50 rapists got away because our system was down.”

  • rainbowbunny@slrpnk.net
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    6 days ago

    “Police are asking for the public’s help” Wow! Too bad no one saw anything. If you did, you didn’t.

    • Iunnrais@piefed.social
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      6 days ago

      100% runs are great, but no need to add challenge restrictions like handsaws only here. I suspect a multiplayer mod was used here anyway, like the one made for Mario 64– those can get pretty wacky.

    • Sabata@ani.social
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      6 days ago

      $20 for the camera, $80 for pole and solar, and $2900 for the shareholders and kickbacks.

    • Nimrod@lemmy.world
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      6 days ago

      The article was referring to the cost to replace them, which would be both the equipent (camera, solar panel, pole, mounting hardware) and labor.

      Edit: so yes, all told it appears to cost $3k to have a camera. But the camera piece alone would cost a lot less than that.

      • Aceticon@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        6 days ago

        Must be paying $100/h to very slow pole installers that spend a day and a half doing each installation.

        Or maybe the installers need moral support so there’s 8 of them twiddling their thumbs whilst 2 do the actual work AND they’re still really slow even with all the moral support so it takes them a day and a half per pole.

        Yet another explanation is that most of that money is just sweet, sweet lucre for Flock.

    • testaccount372920@piefed.zip
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      6 days ago

      That’s pretty cheap for government stuff, no wonder they’re going up so quickly everywhere. Small expense for the government, little scrutiny and incentive to poke through Flock’s marketing crap.

  • betanumerus@lemmy.ca
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    6 days ago

    Can’t they just install flock cameras to watch and identify those cutting down flock cameras?

  • Tanis Nikana@lemmy.world
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    6 days ago

    I just wanna say that if you all want a good band to listen to, Winona Fighter kicks ass. They also are in support of stuff like this.

  • TrackinDaKraken@lemmy.world
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    6 days ago

    Would covering the license plate on your car, and not taking any phones, etc. be enough? You’d need an older car that doesn’t rat you out, too. If there are enough other cameras around, they could possibly track you all the way back to your house, I’m thinking store security cameras and doorbell cameras.

    Also, in a small town, there aren’t many people out driving around in the middle of the night, and if their car is registered in that town, then simply knowing the make and model could be enough to find them.

    I expect they’ll be caught. And, if they are, we’ll hear about it. They really need to catch someone and make an example out of them, that would be a high priority for them.

    • Windex007@lemmy.world
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      6 days ago

      I expect they won’t be caught, frankly. If for no other reason than statistically, most crimes of this nature do not get solved. About 30% is the statistic for burglaries and property damage. So, even if the person had a MEDIAN capacity, the odds are already stacked in thier favour.

      Given that these are flock cameras… pretty fair to say this was done with some degree of due diligence. It was motivated out of principle, not personal gain, not desperation. Based on that alone, I’d spitball down to a 10% chance.

      One step further… this fits the profile of a video I saw where a “reporter” was explaining how flock cameras get taken down, and exactly what “people” are doing to avoid being caught. There exist volumes of information on exactly what a successful flock takedown looks like. Given that, I’d further drop it to well below 5%.

      The cops won’t find them on thier own. Only realistic avenue to zero in on the person is a tip. If the person was smart, they didn’t blab.

      And even if they did, they didn’t keep anything that could meaningfully link them to the act. Even if they end up getting charged, without a smoking gun (flock components in thier garage) actually getting the conviction would be pretty much impossible. Someone ratting them out isn’t nearly enough for a conviction on its own.

      Because it was motivated on principle, there is a non zero chance the person who did it might just defiantly confess (proclaim, like a manifesto) if they get charged. But still unlikely.

      I’d be shocked if anyone even gets charged. I genuinely don’t think there is ANY real chance of a conviction.

      • TrackinDaKraken@lemmy.world
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        6 days ago

        Like I said, as this continues, the motivation to catch someone will increase.

        What a successful take down looks like now, might not work as they increase their efforts.

        And even if they did, they didn’t keep anything that could meaningfully link them to the act. Even if they end up getting charged, without a smoking gun (flock components in thier garage) actually getting the conviction would be pretty much impossible. Someone ratting them out isn’t nearly enough for a conviction on its own.

        All true in normal circumstances, but police plant evidence, and judges are corrupt. They need an example to post online nationally, so that will happen one way or another.

    • CADmonkey@lemmy.world
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      6 days ago

      Bicycles don’t have all those whiz-bang fancy communication devices. Nor do the ol’ L.P.C.'s (Leather Personnel Carriers)

  • RepleteLocum@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    5 days ago

    Anyone know if a airsoft pistol is strong enough to do some damage? We thankfully don’t have them yet, but you gotta stay prepared.

    • mrgoosmoos@lemmy.ca
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      5 days ago

      almost certainly would not be, based on my experience with them a long time ago. I doubt they made them much more powerful or made plastic BBs heavier

      a pellet gun would be, and those are often restricted the same way as airsoft guns

  • tyler@programming.dev
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    6 days ago

    Just a question, does no one else recognize AI writing now? Like, am I really the only person seeing this? Every article reads like the exact same LLM has written it.

    • OctopusNemeses@lemmy.world
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      5 days ago

      It’s an SEO spam site claiming to be about product reviews. They don’t actually have products on hand. Looks like it’s all generated spam.

      Nobody knows what SEO spam is anymore either. This era of scrolling and reading headlines and comments has been awful. People are fake content consuming zombies.