We all know we are already tracked enough by our smartphones, apps, and credit cards. But there is a massive difference here: you can choose to leave your phone at home, turn off your location settings, or opt out of a digital service. You cannot opt out of public roads. Flock cameras strip away that choice entirely, forcing every single driver into a database just for leaving their driveway.

Some people argue that "if you aren't doing anything wrong, you shouldn't care," or that "these cameras help solve crimes". But real security doesn't require giving up our fundamental American freedoms. When you treat every single resident like a suspect to catch a tiny handful of criminals, the system stops being about safety and starts being about total control. History shows that mass surveillance tools always expand far beyond their original purpose. Today it's stolen cars; tomorrow it could be tracking who goes to a specific church, political rally, or medical clinic. We can support our local police and want safe streets without allowing a private company to build a permanent digital blueprint of our daily lives.

These automated license plate reader cameras build a continuous digital tracking map of every single law-abiding citizen going to work, driving to church, taking kids to school, or running everyday errands. It is a direct threat to our 4th Amendment rights, treating all of us like suspects without a warrant or a single shred of probable cause.

Worse, this technology does not just stay within our village borders. Blanchester Police Chief Houghton has limited access to the data, but who knows if those limits can be easily bypassed or rewritten overnight? The reality is that Flock Safety plugs Blanchester directly into a massive, interconnected regional and nationwide surveillance network. This means your driving data can be shared instantly across county and state lines, tracking you wherever you go. This creates the ultimate tool for a tyrannical government to monitor, log, and control the movements of entire populations across the country.

If you think private corporations or law enforcement will always use this power responsibly, look at what happened in Dunwoody, Georgia. It was recently exposed that Flock Safety employees abused their access to local camera feeds over 1,000 times. They were caught using these cameras to spy on preschool rooms, gymnastics classes, playground areas, and community center pools. Even worse, cybersecurity experts have warned that these internet-connected camera systems are highly vulnerable to hacking. If a bad guy or predator hacks into this database, they instantly gain a live window into our community. They could easily use these cameras to monitor local parks and playgrounds, watching to see when children are left alone or tracking exactly when families leave their homes.

This technology has been proven time and again to be misused by both law enforcement and by corporate employees themselves. Our privacy, our safety, and our children's privacy are worth protecting.

We are demanding that the Blanchester Village Council and Mayor John Carman STOP THE USE IMMEDIATELY AND BAN ANY FUTURE MASS SURVEILLANCE TECHNOLOGY from our village.

Please sign and share this petition today to protect our small-town liberty. Let's send a clear message to our local leaders!