Flock Cameras Used to Arrest a 10-Year-Old for Twisting a Swing
Flock cameras used to arrest a child for playing on a swing
A Pennsylvania borough's Flock surveillance cameras helped identify children, aged 10 and 12, who were taken into custody after a swing chain broke. The town's 'Play Smart Rules' explicitly forbid twisting chains, but critics argue the equipment was already unsafe and that punishing normal playground behavior is entrapment. The incident has sparked a Hacker News debate about the creeping normalization of always-on surveillance and algorithmic policing.
One day we'll wake up to see we've built a jail around us we can't escape.
- jerlam
Here is a direct news link to the actual incident: https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/springdale-girls-cou...
- neilv
That link is an activist YouTube channel. Closest I could find to a news organization reporting on this:
https://www.wtae.com/article/springdale-playground-swing-cou...
- uberman
When I was a kid twisting a swing so you could ride it as it untwisted was something that happend dozens of times every recess. This was something every kid did. If your playground equipment falls apart as a result of the standard way kids use a swing then I think that is a manufacture issue not criminal behavior by a 10 year old
- nomagicbullet
I don't think we understand yet the kind of world we are building.
All the small decisions we are making will shape our future: algorithmic decision making, social network broadcasting and "self-reporting", light-speed meme transmission, always-on audio and video surveillance... the list goes on and on. One day we'll wake up to see we've build a jail around us we can't escape.
- donmcronald
If the chain broke from twisting it up and letting it go, it was in disrepair before the kids started using it. Maybe the city admin should be charged with negligence for letting the infrastructure crumble.