There’s been a big fuss nationwide about Flock cameras, and I have to say I understand it. People are, of course, free to put cameras on private property; we have a few game cameras around the place, not because we’re worried about crooks, but because it’s fun to see what wildlife is cruising through while we’re not paying attention – or when we’re asleep.
But these Flock cameras, that’s a whole different kettle of fish. When municipalities are putting them up, well, yeah, I get the argument that they make it easier to catch bad guys and gather evidence, but is that worth all the missteps and the intrusion into everyone’s daily lives as we go about our business?
Well, it’s not that way here. Our home borough, the Matanuska-Susitna, has blocked borough use of these things.
The Matanuska-Susitna Borough is banned from buying or using automated license plate readers under an ordinance unanimously approved by the Mat-Su Assembly this month.
The measure also blocks the borough from spending money on contracts that use such systems or allowing federal or state officials to install them on borough land or in borough rights of way.
Automated license plate readers, known as ALPRs and widely sold by technology company Flock Safety, became a nationwide flashpoint this fall because of widespread privacy concerns.
This is the big news for this week, not that there was ever much chance of the borough suddenly starting to use these things. Palmer and Wasilla, maybe. The borough? I would have guessed no before, and it seems I would have been correct.
The systems use artificial intelligence to create automated, searchable indexes of passing vehicles. They have been linked to reports of improper and warrantless arrests. Officials with the National Rifle Association have raised concerns that the cameras could be used to track gun owners. The American Civil Liberties Union warns that the cameras facilitate “unprecedented spying.”
The new Mat-Su law is designed to block borough use of the cameras because they can create “a permanent tracking record of everyday citizens without reasonable suspicion or a warrant,” according to a memo attached to the ordinance.
And, yes, the NRA’s thoughts do carry a significant amount of weight in this part of Alaska.
Alaska Man score: 5 moose nuggets not caught in the act.
Now, while we recently had some fun looking at memes for Fat Bear Week, this story forces us to remember how seriously we need to take these critters.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has euthanized more bears in the Anchorage area this year than last, including three in just the last week.
Early Tuesday morning, biologists euthanized a brown bear it believes caused a trail of destruction in a Rabbit Creek Neighborhood. Biologist Nick Docken said they feel fairly certain they got the right bear but there could be more than one.
“We knew that we were dealing with multiple bears in this region,” Docken said. “We just were unsure how many bears were taking it to the next level of breaking into sheds, breaking into garages, pushing on front doors of homes. And so that question is still out there.”
Docken said the department got several reports of a brown bear in the area Tuesday night, but none included the same level of destructive activity. He encouraged people to continue reporting sightings immediately.
In total, Fish and Game has killed 20 bears in the Anchorage area in 2026, including 12 black bears and eight brown bears.
Here’s the thing: Bears are not the big, fluffy, nosy critters they are too often represented as. When a bear starts associating humans with food, it seldom ends well for the bear, and it sometimes ends very badly for a human. This time of year in particular, the only things these big murder machines are concerned with are eating, and one of the reasons bears in general have been so successful is that they are willing to eat anything, including humans’ garbage, humans’ gardens, and even, sometimes, humans.
This is an unfortunate thing – but it’s also a sad necessity.
No rating for this one.
Now, let’s talk about some more pleasant things.