Welcome to the Surveillance Grid

“We have cameras everywhere in town. You cannot get a breath of fresh air without us knowing”.

Those words were spoken by a Colorado police sergeant to a suspect at her home.

Sgt. Jamie Milliman was speaking to Chrisanna Elser, who he accused of stealing a package off someone’s porch. The interrogation was captured on Elser’s doorbell cam.

Milliman confidently told Chrisanna, “You know why we’re here.” When her husband questioned the officer about evidence, Milliman replied, “It is her. It is 100%. It is locked in.”

He proceeded to show her pictures of her Rivian electric truck in the area of the crime.

Chrisanna Elser stares in disbelief as she is accused of theft. Source: X.

The images were taken by Flock, a private surveillance company. The firm has more than 100,000 video cameras all over the U.S. Flock constantly tracks movement of vehicles and people, and sells the data to law enforcement and other agencies.

The sergeant detailed all of Chrisanna’s recent trips to the area, claiming she was “casing” houses to steal their packages. In her $100,000 electric truck.

The police officer also told Elser there was a video of her stealing the package. But since she denied being involved, he refused to show it to her.

Eventually, Chrisanna was able to find the package theft video online. The female suspect in the blurry video was also blond.

A porch pirate in its natural habitat (not Chrisanna!) – Source

This woman doesn’t look like Chrisanna Elser. Yes, she has blond hair and is probably of similar height. But she’s younger, not as skinny, has darker hair, and has much larger ears. But hey, I’m no Dick Tracy.

This blurry video, combined with Chrisanna’s car being in the general area at the time, gave the police officer a “slam dunk” case. Or so he thought.

But Chrisanna was innocent. Ironically, it was her truck’s own video cameras which saved her. Elser was able to produce a video taken by her truck at the exact time of the theft. Obviously, she wasn’t at the scene of the crime.

The Police Chief apologized, and Sgt. Milliman was given a reprimand.

RIP Privacy

Privacy in America is dying. In China, it’s already dead. The rest of the world will soon follow.

We are entering a period of total global surveillance. Straight out of a sci-fi novel.

Everything we do, online or in the real world, is tracked and surveilled.

A decade or two ago, I would have been fiercely against this. But today I have mixed feelings.

The good news is that with Big Brother watching, crime will drop. At least that’s the theory.

But the thing is, this relies on district attorneys doing their jobs. And this has been a major problem over the past 2 decades. George Soros and other political bad actors have spent over $50 million to fund the election of “progressive” DAs all over the country. And these DAs regularly let violent criminals off with taps on the wrist.

What’s the point in total surveillance if DAs let attempted murderers off with probation? If they don’t do anything about violent “street takeovers” in downtown cities? If you can shoplift all you want, as long as the value isn’t over $900?

What’s the point in spying on everyone if insane killers are caught on video murdering an innocent woman, but spared the electric chair because they are ruled mentally deficient? That’s a strong reason to carry out the sentence.

This is a big problem with the U.S. surveillance grid. I fear DAs won’t properly prosecute the crimes they capture.

Another problem is that this technology will be abused. It already is. More than a dozen police officers have been caught abusing the Flock system to track and target partners, exes, and stalk women. And those are just the ones who got caught.

And inevitably, some innocents will be convicted of crimes they didn’t commit. Like Chrisanna, their car will be spotted in the area of the crime, and if they match the suspect description, that could be enough.

Overall, a surveillance grid has the potential to nearly eliminate violent crime. We’ve already seen this in China, where theft and assaults have essentially disappeared in big cities.

With millions of cameras and microphones, citizens tend to be on their best behavior.

Is it worth the cost? Probably. But this tech can and will be abused in horrific ways.

Don’t Flock Me Bro

With more than 100,000 Flock video cameras surveilling cars and people all over the country, there are inevitably vigilantes destroying Flock and other surveillance cameras.

All it takes is a $50 cordless angle grinder. I’ve watched dozens of videos of masked men cutting down surveillance cameras.

Source: X

But this vigilantism won’t last. The grid is closing in, and getting away with such an act won’t be possible for much longer.

Already, cameras can identify individuals by their gait (unique walking style). A person’s gait is as unique as a fingerprint. So masks won’t save these vigilantes forever.

The surveillance grid is here to stay.

Realistically, we must make sure the people who have access to this powerful technology use it responsibly. That means electing reasonable and diligent people, from our local sheriff to the federal level.

Such powerful tech must be used judiciously. It can be abused in countless ways.

At the same time, it has the potential to eliminate most violent crime and theft. And I’m all for that.