SHOCKING: Ohio Grand Jury Refuses to Indict Man Accused of Destroying Flock Camera #shorts

Our Take

Credit to UP NEWS EXPRESS for surfacing this one, because it's a rare data point in the Flock debate that isn't coming from a corporate press release. A Clermont County grand jury looked at the case against Cody Morelock, who police say unbolted a Flock camera, solar panel, and pole in Union Township, and simply refused to indict him on felony charges. No trial, no conviction, charges dropped.

Grand juries are made up of regular people, and regular people apparently aren't automatically siding with the surveillance vendor here. That matters. Flock has spread into thousands of communities largely without public votes or meaningful debate, and this is one of the first visible moments where a jury of ordinary residents essentially declined to treat 'damaging a private company's camera bolted onto public infrastructure' as a slam-dunk felony. Whether that reflects sympathy for the defendant, skepticism about the surveillance itself, or just weak evidence, we don't know — but the outcome is notable regardless.

We're not in the business of encouraging vandalism; the legal and safer path is figuring out whether these cameras are even authorized in your town and pushing back through public records requests, council meetings, and local advocacy. Check our camera map to see what's already deployed near you, and if you want to do something about it that doesn't involve a grand jury, start with our take-action guide.