The use of Flock Safety and other cameras have been in recent months met with hostility as communities rethink their use, but the use of such surveillance could expand in the city of Fresno as a new voluntary community program is in the works.
Fresno police have said they use the city’s Flock cameras to read license plates, and Chief Mindy Casto has argued the cameras, about 70 total, are useful tools for investigators as police say they strive to balance safety with privacy.
The new community program offers individual homeowners or a consortium of neighbors — like members of a Neighborhood Watch — the option to put up their own cameras and volunteer to allow access to what it sees to police…