It’s only a matter of time until they start putting up cameras to protect the other cameras

QUERY: SEND HELP STOP Someone Cut Down Every Single Flock Camera in This Town in a Single Night Eight Flock Safety license plate readers vanished from four Winona intersections July 29-August 1, leaving $24,000 in damage and no suspects Rex Edison Aug 4, 2026 2 min read Image: Wikimedia KEY TAKEAWAYS Thieves cut down all eight Winona Flock Safety cameras in a single weekend. Replacing the stolen license plate readers will cost Winona roughly $24,000 total. Flock Safety cameras face growing nationwide resistance through spray-painting, bagging, and physical removal. @mattvanswol #BREAKING: Police in Winona Minnesota are stunned after EVERY SINGLE ONE of their Flock cameras were suddenly removed in a single night. According to the police department, all 8 of the town's cameras were cut down and hauled away. Police are asking for the public's help to identify the individual, but the public has been leaving comments like: "The Flock cameras tore themselves down" "Whoever did it, was fishing with me" "Whoever it was, was at Bible study with me" FLOCK CAMERAS SAWED OFF AND STOLEN WINONA, MN PRIVACY ABOUT THE CAMERAS about the cameras MINNESOTA HAD WIDESPREAD USE eight individual flock automated license plate at multiple and after police noticed been any new pings coming peepers, they found 24,000 US worth of damage. What Actually Happened Eight cameras, four days, zero suspects - and a $24,000 hole in Winona's surveillance network. All eight Flock Falcon cameras were stolen between July 29 and August 1, according to KIMT News. Metal poles were cut near the base at each location; poles were found nearby in the weeds, but camera units remain missing. Locations: Highway 61/Bundy Boulevard, Highway 61/Highway 14, Highway 14/Knopp Valley Drive, and Highway 43/Homer Road. Estimated replacement cost: roughly $3,000 per unit, $24,000 total. No cameras recovered. No suspect identified. Police are requesting public tips. This wasn't a council vote. Columbia Heights, another Minnesota city, bagged its Flock cameras in plastic and formally cancelled the contract after sustained community pressure. Winona's removal required power tools. In Faribault, a man was charged after officers found a Flock camera missing with cables cut and dangling - the same cut-and-remove method, according to CBS News Minnesota. A pattern is forming. Privacy advocates have warned that aggregated plate data can reveal "sensitive patterns like clinic visits, religious attendance, or political organizing," according to Guardian reporting - a concern that reflects how mass data collection routinely functions when oversight is limited. All the cops isn't the happening in Minnesota and the removal job required power pull it off.