Augusta County Sheriff Donald Smith has done a 180 on his Flock cameras, confirming on Monday something that we knew dating back to Friday, that he had directed his department to remove the two automatic license plate readers that had been tracking vehicles on Jefferson Highway.
Photos circulated on social media Friday afternoon to document the move to take the cameras down from the two locations in the Fishersville area.
In a release, Smith attributed the about face to his office having “received numerous calls and communications from citizens expressing concerns and uncertainty regarding the use of the cameras and the collection and use of information obtained through the system.”
Damn straight they did.
“As sheriff, I have listened to the concerns expressed by the citizens of Augusta County,” Smith said in the release that went out today. “After hearing those concerns, I made the decision to remove the cameras from operation while we continue to evaluate the issues that have been raised.”
From the archives
- Coverage of the controversy over local use of Flock cameras: click here.
This time last week, Smith issued a release defending his office’s use of the cameras, after a come to Jesus meeting with the Augusta County Board of Supervisors in which he got flogged over the Flocks.
Smith shared in the release a dataset that he had shared with the supes detailing 182 positive hits related to possible criminal activity in the 2026 year-to-date.
Problem there being, the dataset showed that those 182 positive hits came from 3,495,807 vehicle reads, for a success rate of .005 percent.
For reference: a 1 percent hit rate would be 34,958 hits.
A .1 percent hit rate would be 3,496 hits.
Even a .01 percent hit rate would be 350 hits.
We’re talking half of .01 percent there.
For that miniscule return on investment, the other 99.995 percent of us who drive by the two cameras had been subject to state-sponsored video surveillance, for no good reason.
It apparently took a few days for this realization to finally sink in for Smith.
His release included a line stressing that the “Augusta County Sheriff’s Office remains committed to protecting the safety and security of the community while also respecting the privacy and rights of the citizens we serve.”
“I want the citizens of Augusta County to know that their concerns matter to me. Our responsibility is to keep our community safe while ensuring that we respect the rights of everyone we serve,” Smith said, repeating himself there.
Do note: the first quote in the release leaves open the possibility that he will put the Flock cameras back into operation at some point.
“I made the decision to remove the cameras from operation while we continue to evaluate the issues that have been raised,” was what he said there.
Also note: Smith is up for re-election in the 2027 cycle.
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Chris Graham
