A town hall to discuss Flock Cameras has been called for Aug. 21 at the Coffee County Veterans building in Manchester.

What are these solar-powered street cameras that seem to be popping up around our community? What do they do? Who’s watching them, and why?” posed G. Lamar Wilkie in announcing the town hall.

“They’re called Automatic License Plate Reader (ALPR) cameras, and they do a lot more than you might think. Not content with recording your license plate every time you drive past one, they also note distinguishing features: make, model and color, stickers or decals, body damage, roof racks… in other words, they create a fingerprint of your personal vehicle and store your movements in a searchable database that any law enforcement agency (and even private companies) can search, without a warrant.

Whether you believe ALPRs constitute a violation of your civil liberties or you’re fine with having them track your whereabouts each time you pass one, you’re invited to learn more about these cameras at an upcoming public town hall.

The ALPR Town Hall will be Friday, Aug. 21 at 7 p.m. at the Coffee County Veterans Building – 130 Shelton Road in Manchester. Neither the veterans’ organizations nor municipal leaders are hosting this event: it is being presented by a private citizen who noticed these cameras, began researching them for the benefit of everyone, and reserved the building for a private event.