Authorities in Savannah are probing an act of property destruction after two Flock Safety license plate readers were severed and knocked down at the entrance of the Sweetwater Station subdivision.

Officers were dispatched to Clubhouse Drive following reports from Gregory Quinn, the community’s homeowners association director. According to police records, the surveillance hardware appeared to have been intentionally sliced with a saw overnight. Quinn noted the vandalism might stem from online friction, citing a prior disagreement on his personal social media account with a resident over the surveillance tools.

Despite the incident, community feedback leans heavily toward restoring the devices. In a local survey of 33 residents, two-thirds favored reinstalling the hardware, while only four expressed outright opposition.

Neighbor Derrick Williams expressed dismay after spotting the damage during his commute: “I drove by like ‘oh no man, it’s down.’ I’m in full support of flock, anything for safety.”

Resident Bob Hellinger echoed that view, arguing the monitoring provides essential peace of mind. “It never bothered me, I don’t mind them when I’m driving in and out, I’m not doing anything wrong,” Hellinger said. He added: “It’d be nice to know who’s coming in and out of here, especially if an incident happens where a car gets sideswiped or, God forbid, a kid or something like that — we’ve got a record on camera of who is coming in and who’s leaving really fast, why isn’t that a good thing?”

While some neighbors raised privacy concerns and questioned who manages the data feeds, Quinn clarified that police do not hold direct, ongoing access to the neighborhood-owned system, which was set up strictly to deter neighborhood crime.

Civil liberties advocates caution against illicit destruction while encouraging lawful pushback against surveillance expansion. Christopher Bruce, deputy executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, urged community members to channel their concerns through local governance: “You may like flock cameras, but you may like them in a certain area. You may want the data to be retained for a certain amount of time, or you may not want it at all. The point is, can you get your voice out?”

The HOA’s surveillance agreement expires this November, with the board slated to evaluate long-term options at its upcoming September assembly.