I saw something in a recent news report about a shooting at the mall that made a bunch of things finally fall together.

"Officers were able to track the vehicle using traffic cameras in the Real Time Information Center."

So WTF is that?
In addition to all the black Flock APLRs that went up within the last year, I noticed new intersection cameras popping up all over town. Intersections that had no camera suddenly had one and they look different than the ones that had been up for decades at major intersections. I also noticed at these same new intersections, there were also an eyeball cam on one corner and a white device with a flat black section below it. Didn't look like a camera. This group of new tech is on pretty much any intersection with a traffic light that does any volume of traffic or is two through roads intersecting.

The fact that all of this went up at the same time as the APLRs and the city has been cagey about what it is all about made me suspicious.

It appears that all of this IS tied to the Flock rollout and is being used to actively spy on everyone. They are logging everywhere we go all the time. AI gives them what they need to grab that whenever they feel like it and know everything about you. There were concerns about the city's claims that any of this is being kept safe or not shared. There also is zero oversight so we are expected to take their word for it. Many cities that signed on for this big brother tech found out later that things they thought weren't being shared actually were and did zero due diligence before signing up for these systems.

I ran this through Claude (ironic? yes) to see what it could find about all of this and yes, this whole system of cameras everywhere is tracking everywhere everyone goes all the time and making a record of it.

The output from Claude:

The Real Time Information Center (RTIC) Does Exist

The "Real Time Information Center" is an actual Sioux Falls Police Department facility. It was established in early 2025 and represents a significant expansion of the city's surveillance infrastructure. dakotanewsnow.com The RTIC consolidates video feeds from existing city cameras positioned at intersections, parks, recreational trails, public works infrastructure, and public buildings, providing law enforcement with a centralized hub to monitor and investigate crimes in real time.

What the Cameras Can and Cannot Do

The city was transparent about the system's capabilities and limitations:

Feature	Status
License plate detection (ALPR)	Enabled
Facial recognition	Explicitly prohibited
Biometric identification	Explicitly prohibited
Speed/red light/parking violation detection	Not used
Data retention period	30 days maximum
Data sale or unauthorized use	Prohibited by policy
Public oversight	Transparency portal available

dakotanewsnow.com Police Chief Jon Thum emphasized that the system is not equipped with facial or biometric recognition capabilities, and the city has implemented monthly audits with a public transparency portal.

The Cameras You're Observing

Your observations about the newer cameras align with Sioux Falls' recent expansions:

The "Eyeball" Cameras

These are likely part of the standard traffic camera network that feeds into the RTIC. They capture directional views of intersections to monitor traffic flow and incident detection.

The "White Cap with Black Device" Cameras

These sound like Flock Safety ALPR (Automated License Plate Reader) cameras. dakotanewsnow.com The white cap typically houses the camera unit, while the shallow black device underneath contains the infrared illuminator and sensor hardware needed to read license plates at night and capture vehicle identifying information. dakotanewsnow.com1 In early 2025, the Sioux Falls Police Department approved a $168,000 contract for approximately 25 Flock cameras deployed around the city's periphery, which matches your observation of cameras placed strategically around the edges of the city.

Legal and Privacy Safeguards

One important note: South Dakota has no state laws specifically regulating ALPRs or traffic surveillance cameras, so regulations rely on departmental policies. sdnewswatch.org However, the SFPD's policy explicitly states that data is deleted after 30 days and cannot be sold or used for unauthorized purposes. siouxfalls.gov

The system has already been used to solve crimes—the police department reported solving a sexual assault case on a recreational trail and a homicide downtown using the camera network.

Here is the original story I found this monitoring center in

https://www.dakotanewsnow.com/2026/07/22/arkansas-man-arrested-after-firing-gun-outside-empire-mall-tuesday/