r/Milford

Hi everyone, I am a Pre-K teacher in a large urban district in Connecticut. I teach 20 smart, kind, funny and loving 3-5 year olds. We are a title 1 school with limited resources. My students bring so much joy into our classroom! If you could consider donating an item off my classroom wishlist, it would mean the world to us. Thank you for reading this. PreK Amazon Wishlist Link

Received an email from Alderman Bannon regarding a Milford town hall meeting scheduled tomorrow Wednesday 8/19 from 6-9pm to discuss License Plate & Red Light Cameras and the possibly of the Chief speaking about it. I asked if there would be additional discussions and questions regarding Flock but have not received an answer yet.

MILFORD! I MAY VISIT SOON! 😉 My name is Johnny Rivera, and I am a proud Puerto Rican /Colombian, gay activist and organizer who resides in West Hartford, Connecticut. After the death of Renee Nicole Good, I created The Perseus Project, a rapid response effort that documents 🧊 activity and protects our neighbors, based out of Enfield, Connecticut.

This year has been hectic! One protest after another. Recently, we had our success with the De-ICE Citizens Bank campaign in getting Citizens to stop financing CoreCivic and the GEO group- for profit prison corporations that run 🧊 detention centers. So many firsts! Organized my first protest with the campaign, and later my first vigils and even a march. We're doing our best over here to fight the good fight and make good trouble! Another first this year was a successful attempt at projection activism.

Using a 750-watt halogen projector lent to me and some training videos from my good friends u/backbonecampaign , I was able to project some of the images you see here! I'm obsessed with how projection activism has allowed me to connect to others (the response is always overwhelmingly positive) and amplify things I'm passionate about in a non-violent manner, while getting the public to think. Some of these projections have gone somewhat viral locally, and I am about to turn up the heat and bring you some more projections throughout Connecticut and maybe beyond!

I am currently raising $2k to buy my own set up and hopefully something to give back to the Backbone campaign for their help, since they are able to do what they do off such donations. We at the Perseus Project have decided to use our existing Gofundme and any excess funds will go towards fighting fascism and keeping our neighbors safe. I encourage you to check out the description.

No donation is too small,and if you can't contribute, please repost and share this reel to your story. Link in bio or visit gofundme.com/u/perseusproject

And check out the Perseus Project at instagram.com/theperseusproject

Most grateful~ 🙏 #Perseus

To the Milford Board of Aldermen, Mayor Richard Smith, the Board of Police Commissioners, Chief Keith Mello, and the Milford Police Employees' Union, and to our neighbors across Milford:

We are residents of Milford, writing in the open, because that is where this conversation should have happened from the start. For more than a year our town has been fitted with one of the largest police surveillance networks in Connecticut, and most of us learned of it only after it was built.

No one voted for this. The Board approved a line item called a Security Camera Project. It never named a citywide license plate tracking network, a police drone program, or a real time monitoring center. The department's own 2024 strategic plan laid all of it out a year before residents saw a word, and the system has grown from 30 cameras to more than 90 with no new vote.

We were told our data is shared with one partner. The city's own records show a dozen agencies, plus a federal one. In February the chief told the Board of Finance that federal immigration accounts could search Connecticut plate data across state lines. That is not a rumor. It is on the record.

At the very start, safeguards were put on the table, an independent audit, competitive bidding, and proof that our data is destroyed. The board voted all three down. So when we are told to trust the process, we remember that the process already rejected the guardrails.

And we cannot ignore who is leading this. Chief Mello does not only run Milford's cameras. He chairs the state council writing Connecticut's plate reader rules, and Flock itself boasts that it worked with that council to write the new law. The man selling this to Milford is helping write the rules every town in the state will follow. That is a conflict of interest, plainly stated.

To the officers and your union, we hear you, and no one here wants to take away an alert about a stolen car or a wanted person. But that tool does not require a permanent record of where every innocent person in Milford goes, shared far beyond our borders and held by a private company. You said a conversation about safeguards is welcome. So do we. Let us have it honestly.

This month the Governor asked every town in Connecticut to pause new camera installations until the state sets privacy rules. The chief who chairs that state council is refusing to pause his own town.

So here is what we are asking, in the open. Turn the cameras off and do not renew the contract. Produce the records that show who can see our data. Adopt the safeguards you rejected. And to Chief Mello, you work for the people of Milford, not for Flock Safety. If you will not stand with the residents who pay your salary, you should step down.

You all work for us. Come to Parson's Auditorium on August 19, and to the Board of Aldermen special meeting on August 27, and say so to our faces. A safe town does not have to be a watched one.

- Local members of the Milford community

Video by In The Know Idaho

We had a microburst here in Milford/Woodmont last year. Crazy weather.

Flock Safety distributes the handbook “How to Speak to City Councils About Public Safety Technology” that instructs law-enforcement agencies on securing and retaining automated license-plate reader networks. The document directs officers to shift discussion from surveillance to governance and states “Don’t avoid the concept of mass surveillance because you’re not going to convince opponents that it’s not.” It further requires agencies to own the narrative by briefing city managers and council members before public comment periods begin.

The same guidance cites Oakland, California, as a model outcome: more than 140 public comments and Privacy Advisory Commission opposition failed to prevent a 7-1 City Council vote approving a $2.25 million contract that maintains nearly 300 cameras. Structural features include national lookup settings that have enabled local departments to execute immigration-related queries later accessed by federal agencies.

These methods convert municipal procurement into a managed communications process that reduces the effectiveness of sustained public scrutiny. Left unexamined, private-vendor infrastructure expands into permanent baseline tracking under the cover of public-safety partnerships.

At scale the system establishes continuous vehicle-location capture with limited practical opt-out for residents. Independent review of the handbook text and related search-log evidence remains necessary before further municipal expansion.

Sources

https://www.404media.co/own-the-narrative-leaked-flock-guide-shows-how-it-teaches-cops-to-promote-its-tech/

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28531454-flockbook/

https://www.kqed.org/news/12067461/oakland-council-expands-flock-license-plate-reader-network-despite-privacy-concerns

https://www.404media.co/ice-taps-into-nationwide-ai-enabled-camera-network-data-shows/

https://www.flocksafety.com/ebooks/how-to-speak-to-city-councils-about-public-safety-technology

It’s unfortunate that the Alderman couldn’t ask Chief Mello questions. I find it disheartening when the duly elected representatives of the citizens can’t question a non elected bureaucrat

I was driving home from Orange CT yesterday and the flockhopper app took me off I95 to avoid an ALPR. Noticed the Luv Boutique with 3 ALPRs surrounding it. Their sign says 'sexy and secure adult shopping'. Would any of you feel secure shopping here and then having your purchase added to your Palantir profile? I wonder how Luv Boutique feels about this. If it hurts their business do they have grounds to sue?

Good Morning!

For those of you that haven’t heard of me, my name is Andrew Rice. I am a 38 year old molecular biologist renting a home in Milford with my college friend and dog Yoshi. I am also running for Congress, challenging 35 year incumbent Rosa DeLauro in Connecticut’s Third Congressional District.

In 2024 when I renewed my drivers license I switched from being a Democrat to Unaffiliated because of my disappointment with the Party and its failure to stand up for working people.

On July 25, 2025 I confronted Rosa DeLauro for her continued funding of genocide in Palestine. Shortly thereafter I was approached about challenging her. After reviewing more of her stances and seeing that her failed leadership went beyond Palestine, I decided to mount a challenge. At the time, I believed the best way to unseat her would be to challenge her for the democratic primary. I reluctantly switched back to being a democrat.

During the process I witnessed first hand the level of corruption and rot that has engulfed the party. I knew it was bad, I failed to realize just how bad it was. After the Party broke convention rules to keep us off the ballot, and after hearing so much disdain for the party collecting signatures, it was hard to continue trying to be democrat.

But I’m tenacious and I don’t give up easily. I am moving forward. I want to continue spreading our campaign message, offer people another choice, and now hold the Democratic Party accountable for their corruption and hypocrisy.

What is the campaign message?

Healthcare
Medicare for all. To me Health Care is a right. In the wealthiest nation in the world, people should not be going bankrupt because of medical care. Rosa DeLauro does not support Medicare for All.

Education
Reducing student loan interest to 1% retroactively which would effectively cancel student loan debt for millions of borrowers who already paid off the principal and are just paying interest. We saw student loan forgives fail, so let’s be creative on how we can offer immediate relief.

Double Pell grants and expand eligibility. Higher education needs to be available to everyone who wants it. College isn’t for everyone, so Pell grants should also cover vocational training. In 1991 when Rosa took office Pell Grants covered 90% of tuition. Today it’s down to 60%.

I.D.E.A. If we fully funded this special education program, our district would bring in another $51M. There is a bill that would fully fund it. Rosa has not cosponsored it. Nor has she used her “power” as lead appropriator to increase its funding by even 1% in her 35 years.

Housing
Housing is another human right. Homelessness is a societal failure. There are already more empty homes than there are unhoused people. Homelessness is a vicious cycle that is not easily broken. It is cheaper to house people than it is to jail them. We need to end the cycle of poverty and guaranteed housing is the first step.

How do we pay for this?
We tax the billionaires and ultra millionaires, returning to a progressive tax system that existed during JFK, close tax loopholes that benefit these elites, and levy fines proportional to wealth so that laws do not disproportionately affect people with less income.

We also reduce the corporate war budget and end these forever wars oversees that have caused nothing but death and destruction for both our own brave military servicemen and women, as well as civilians of sovereign nations.

If you believe in this message, we could use your help. We need volunteers to collect signatures, door knock, phonebank, and conduct research.

We also need funding. Even $5 can help purchase campaign literature! So please donate!

Movements are not made from one person, or one team. It’s made when thousands of people stand and work together and demand better for themselves and their community.

Stand with us so we can build a better future together!