u/deflockcobb

Howdy Cobb County!

Next week is DeFlock’s National Week of Action. Across the country, over 20,000 individuals have signed onto a week of action to put an end to AI enabled ALPRs.

DeFlock Cobb is excited to share our schedule for the week with multiple opportunities to get active!

Monday: We will be hosting our Flock Safety 101 at South Cobb library at 6:30pm. This is a great introduction course to build your knowledge around these devices to prepare you for any future public comment.

Tuesday: We’ve got a city council meeting that week! If you are in Smyrna, this is a great opportunity to let the city of Smyrna know how you feel. Keep in mind there is no Flock Safety agenda item, but always an opportunity to say what you feel!

Wednesday: Let’s take a break and kick it back at home. We’ll share some of our favorite videos and books to read!

Thursday: Let’s come together and make some protest signs and connect as a community! We’ll be at Schoolhouse Brewing at 6:00 with a beer in one hand and a sharpie in another. We’ll have some supplies but encourage you to bring supplies!

Friday: To end the week, we will meet near Marietta Square and protest right outside two flock cameras. Let’s take all the energy and come together and show the community that Cobb County says NO to Flock Safety!

We are so excited! If you have any questions, let us know and we will do our best to answer them! We hope to connect with you all at one or multiple events!

Learn more about the National Week of Action here:

Chairwoman Cupid announced today that there will be multiple town halls to address the community’s concerns around Flock.

For all of those who have spoken out in public comments, shared concerns, and talked to the Cobb Board of Commissioners, thank you. That work got us here. So great work, Cobb County!

Dates have not been released yet, but they will soon.

Assuming there will be an opportunity to speak directly to Chairwoman Cupid or Police Chief Ferrell, what would you say? What has brought you to speak out in previous town halls or public comment?

Over 100 Cities have cancelled their Flock Safety contracts, but the fight does not stop there. This is a great opportunity to expand beyond Flock Safety. We have an opportunity to start conversations around the entire surveillance system in Cobb County.

Tools like Clearview.AI, Shotspotter, Chorus Intelligence, and, of course, Axon and their integration with their Real Time Crime Center / Fusus. This is not a Flock Safety problem. This is a mass surveillance problem that is hitting cities across the country. Surveillance is not safety.

We can beat this growing trend if we work together and learn together!

Here are some of my favorite recent findings!

• Jon Oliver - Police Technologies
• ‘Own the Narrative’: Leaked Flock Guide Shows How It Teaches Cops to Promote Its Tech
• ‘DO NOT MENTION ALPR USAGE’: How Cops Are Trying to Hide Their Use of Flock
• Why Are Flock Employees Watching Our Children?
  • Dunwoody Officer Used Flock Cameras To Track Cop’s Ex-Wife During Divorce

MDJ Links if you need them!

1. MDJ Link
2. Archive Link, if you don’t have access to the first:

Howdy Neighbors!

The City of Marietta has a Condor camera up for renewal next month and we need YOU to call it out!

Here’s the catch.

This contract is only for $3,000 a year and therefore does not require a city council vote. And let’s be honest, this is done by design. If we do nothing, this camera will quietly auto-renew after August 13th for TWO YEARS.

These are questions we want answered:

• Why is our city allowing any surveillance technology to go through without a council vote?
• Why does the public continue to not get a say in this technology?
• Why are we okay with surveillance technology that is under a monetary threshold getting to skip a council vote?
• Why is this technology allowed to be auto-renewed without a conversation?

When this type of technology evolves every month, with new product releases, we need ANYONE who approves this technology to understand what they are approving. What was approved two years ago is not the same product. This is an evolving system being added across the country without input from the public.

This isn’t just a Marietta problem; this is a Cobb County leadership problem hitting every city.

This August 12th, DeFlock Cobb is asking you to show up to the Marietta City Council and ask about this technology and demand this contract be canceled. We are asking you to email representatives and ask that this contract be canceled.

ALSO - August 12th is the same date for the proposed Powers Ferry data center vote. These two fights are very much the same. Data Centers are the infrastructure that will support this type of growing technology.

Let’s show up with our community to demand the Powers Ferry data center be voted down and ask the council why we are auto-renewing surveillance technology.

Here is an email template to email City Council and tell them your thoughts before the City Council meeting: https://drive.proton.me/urls/K7TASMJC5R#aRHxekxadjAU