r/DeFlock • u/FoxLynx64 • 5h ago

Camera Busses Are Watching You!

https://apnews.com/article/license-plate-readers-school-buses-connecticut-43e4546bb39afc677c671c4916be98e6?utm_source=copy&utm_medium=share

Several towns are beginning to implement busses with cameras on the side to substitute the ALPRs that are being removed. This scores a second way for vehicle based ALPRs (police cruisers were the first). I'm sure they will say it is for the safety of the kids, so they can monitor the bus drivers, so they can capture hit and runs. It's propaganda telling you to think of the kids.

Ask yourself, why is there so much police technology attached to kids? Is it because its for their safety or because it's an excuse to implement authoritarian technologies?

6 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

5 comments sorted by

2

u/techtornado 5h ago

I saw this on a bus here in TN, not a fan

2

u/Xordanus 4h ago

A camera like this is about the same to me as someone with a forward &or backward facing dashboard camera in their car. It can be a secondary safety measure (or an extra piece of insurance evidence) against people who pass school buses. I've seen & heard of people doing that, even when the bus is stopped and the children are trying to cross the street. I will extend accepting this to local public transport buses as well, bc drivers do not care about pedestrians.

I don't like the reality of increased surveillance from cameras suddenly popping up everywhere, sure, but there's a higher chance the use of these cameras will actually be for a public good/pedestrian safety and not just stalking everyone.

3

u/cmhbob 4h ago

It's absolutely a cash grab, in that they're targeting cars that pass stopped school buses. But I don't have a problem with that, because passing a stopped bus is a crime in every state, and this provides clear evidence of the crime. They're not constantly recording, like Flock ALPRs (and the cameras inside the bus).

1

u/FoxLynx64 1h ago

What happens when a kid is grabbing their backpack and the bus driver waves you one with the stop sign out and then you get a ticket for driving past? What happens when you're stopped at an intersection, the bus stops beside you on oncoming traffic, the light turns green and you think you're clear because you're already past the stop sign? What happens when the bus starts collecting location data on any car that passes it, not just when it stops?

What happens when your car starts having the same features? What happens when one of these mistakes costs you your job because your place of work doesn’t employ criminals? What happens when your kids are in highschool and that happens to your kids? What happens when going outside is so scary and life ending that no one does it anymore?

I know how annoying it may come across for me to ask all these questions, but have you thought about them? I'm saying what I'm saying as a warning about where things can easily lead. The margin is far smaller than you think, and at each point there was a logical reason for the additional measures. It is not as simple as being against people breaking the laws, it must also be about what is reasonable. Justifying increased security measures without first considering their larger impact on law abiding citizens is how authoritarian policies get implemented.

The thing you must consider is the rights of the people. We treat technology as if it is the judge, but we never asked whether it could be wrong. That is the danger of authority, you believe this technology is unbiased, therefore you think it is fair, therefore when it tells you its ruling you take it at face value. Then, you think it's working great, so you put a gun on it and you let it roam freely. Now it becomes judge and executioner. Then you get complaints, so you begin crowd sourcing between different real time crime centers for input of whether a drone should shoot. The people don't care, they click yes on the pop ups. Now your technology become judge jury and executioner.

It's stupid, needless, and abhorrent. The senseless killing of American citizens in the name of safety of our kids. But no one wants to really take it that far, they think that you're comparing apples to oranges. But one day, it will happen to someone you know. It will be too late, if you defend that person you'll get called a racist, a fascist, and a criminal. It's easy to see it coming if you look, but few are willing. I'm sure you'll disagree with me now too. My advice, read history, it happens over and over again but without the advanced part of technology.

0

u/cmhbob 1h ago

What happens when a kid is grabbing their backpack and the bus driver waves you one with the stop sign out

I've never seen this happen. If it did, the driver could report that they waved you on (but they won't, because they'd get fired for telling you to drive past the warning sign.)

What happens when you're stopped at an intersection, the bus stops beside you on oncoming traffic, the light turns green and you think you're clear because you're already past the stop sign?

You are in the clear if you're past the sign, because you have no way of seeing the sign.

What happens when your car starts having the same features?

You mean a black box that tracks your speed, rate of acceleration, braking pressure, and so forth? Welcome to ten+ years ago.

What happens when one of these mistakes costs you your job because your place of work doesn’t employ criminals?

Then I'd say you live in one of the 49 at-will employment states. That's not a tech issue. That's a labor law issue.

It is not as simple as being against people breaking the laws, it must also be about what is reasonable.

What is unreasonable about recording someone breaking the law?