4 Riverside trustees are wrong

Regrettably, the Riverside Board of Trustees voted 4-2 against continuing their funding of Flock cameras in Riverside. By doing so they are making it more likely that Riverside residents will be victims of a crime, that criminals remain free, and made it harder for Riverside police to solve local crimes. I commend the two brave Riverside trustees who voted to continue the funding. Flock wasn’t the perfect company, but as the saying goes, don’t make the perfect the enemy of the good. 

It’s wonderful that we live in such a safe community, but it doesn’t happen by accident. We shouldn’t allow our sense of security to blind us from the very real, very violent crimes that happen within a few miles of us every single day. Nor should we take for granted the tools that must be used to solve these crimes. It’s only possible to prioritize your data when you’ve had the privilege to live an insulated existence in a safe town such as ours that prevents you from being affected by serious crimes. For those of us who’ve lived in unsafe towns, we understand that to be free, one must first be safe. 

The responsible response of the Riverside Board of Trustees would have been to fund the Flock cameras with the safeguards in place. Despite their defunding, they have a chance to somewhat rectify the situation. There are alternative camera vendors we should consider giving our camera contract to. I’m encouraged that some trustees expressed an interest in this. In the meantime we can put up more of our own Riverside police department owned and operated cameras. Something, after all, is better than nothing.