EVANSVILLE, IN — A massive amount of police data was released from Evansville Police Department (EPD) and revealed the dangerous reality of nationwide AI surveillance. The FBI calls a “significant officer safety risk,” just as neighboring Greene County invested $430,000 in the same technology.
The Leak: 74 Million Searches Exposed
The began when more than 80,000 local police searches conducted by the EPD were put onto to the open internet. These records are now part of a staggering 74 million searches hosted on the website HaveIBeenFlocked.com.
The data revealed:
- Active Investigations: The names of detectives and the specific reasons for their searches (including homicide and narcotics cases).
- Target Lists: Information on who was being tracked, where they were going, and when they were seen.
- Suspect Retaliation: The FBI warned that because suspects can now see they are under investigation, they may flee or retaliate against the officers and informants involved.
Warnings Ignored in Greene County
Despite these failures in Evansville, Greene County has moved forward with the same infrastructure. This comes after Linton News issued urgent warnings to the County Prosecutor, Sheriff, County Council, and Commissioners.
The publication warned that the Flock Cameras are not only unconstitutional but also not a closed circuit; it is an open gateway that links Greene County into a nationwide database where local data is at the mercy of every other agency in the system. There were also multiple warnings of well documented security vulnerabilities nationwide. These warnings were ignored, and the county has now committed to a $430,000 five-year contract for 25 AI Flock cameras.
An Unconstitutional "Digital Dragnet"
Privacy advocates argue that these systems represent a fundamental erosion of the Fourth Amendment. Unlike traditional policing, where an officer observes a crime, the Flock Safety network acts as a "digital dragnet," tracking law-abiding citizens 24/7 without a warrant or probable cause.
"They don’t have complete, lock-down control over the data they’re collecting," warns Chad Marlow, a senior policy attorney with the ACLU.
Legal experts argue that while one camera might be "public observation," a network of 90,000 cameras creates a "mosaic" of a person's life, where they sleep, work, worship, and visit a doctor, which many believe is an unconstitutional search of their private movements.
A Growing National Backlash
As Evansville residents find their travel history on a public website, other cities are beginning to retreat from the technology:
- Santa Cruz, CA recently became the first California city to cancel its contract over privacy and data-sharing risks.
- Spokane, WA has "locked down" its cameras to prevent out-of-state agencies from fishing through local data.
- Cities in Illinois and Arizona are reviewing contracts following reports of the system being used for political surveillance and tracking individuals seeking reproductive healthcare.
In Greene County, the cameras are now being installed, turning the quiet rural landscape into the latest link in a nationwide chain of surveillance. For the local leaders who authorized the purchase, the question remains: is the promise of "safety" worth the very real risk to officer safety and the total loss of citizen privacy?
Linton News has taken the liberty of reaching out to all of our elected officials asking for public comment and demanding these cameras are shut down or altogether removed unless they can be proved to be safe. Find that article here:
Letter To Greene County Officials
We will update you on any responses we receive.
