A Flock Safety camera stands along East Second Street and North Olive Road on the University of Arizona campus. The university has a contract with Flock Safety cameras, a company which has recently come under fire for collecting data that law enforcement officials across the country have used to do immigration-related searches.
Flock camera concerns
Every day there is another story about Flock cameras to record traffic movement and the question is why? One of the people interviewed claimed that the use of these cameras is an invasion of privacy. Sorry, but that seems like a guilty conscience more than a privacy concern. It is generally understood that when a person leaves the privacy provided by their home, anyone else that is out in public can see what they are doing. A Flock camera looks for a vehicle and the license plates on that vehicle, these cameras are not intended to pickup everything that passes by, skipping over people and riders of bicycles (per the website). When you leave your residence, do you intend to do something illegal? If so, then the Flock cameras are a concern, otherwise, not so much. Wanting community safety in Tucson means stopping criminals and cameras work toward this goal. Perhaps a law restricting the use of the output would make more sense than stopping enforcement
People are also reading…
Loran Hancock
Northwest side
Trans girls in sports, restrooms
Think heavens there’s a political party that isn’t distracted by frivolous issues like the economy, crumbling infrastructure, education, health, and lack of water. Instead, GOP politicians in Phoenix are laser focused on the greatest threat to civilization since Attila the Hun: TRANS-GIRLS IN SPORTS and RESTROOMS!
If you care more about woke issues like affordability, renewable energy, doing unto others, and liberty and justice for all, than you do about protecting our weak, fragile daughters, then go ahead and vote for those socialist Democrats. But if you want to make America great by persecuting those who frighten you, then you must vote for the anti-social GOP Klan. And don’t forget to vote in person, because mail-in voting is a Commie plot.
Floyd Newsom
Northwest side
Republican perversion
The fragility of our democracy is apparent to anyone who is not living under a rock. Our president, who fashions himself as the wisest of the wise, has minions who are changing the very fabric of our society. The minions make fatal changes through the courts, through policy changes, through threats, through deregulations/gutting of agencies and through disinformation and threats. Add to the mix: promotion of mediocre people (RFK, Hegseth, Blanche, Patel). The political climate created by Project 2025 emphasizes the importance of voting in November.
Toni Kane
Oro Valley
Re-think a college education
Our education system is a complete failure. It starts in grammar school through the universities. All one has to do is look at the results, kids can't read, do basic math, have no knowledge of our government. They exit college majoring in something irrelevant that has no merit to their prospective employer. They are saddled with a huge debt. What happened to dollars invested, dollars returned? What happened to trade schools? Why aren't the kids being introduced to careers that will generate a very good living? Those who have graduated from college who carry enormous debt are not finding jobs, where is their American dream? When the system doesn't work, fix it. Change is near impossible as the teacher unions are very inflexible. Success is not attained by pouring more money in to it. Structural change must happen. Kicking the can down the road accomplishes nothing.
Bill Dowdall
Oro Valley
Rodeo tradition
O'Connor presents a one sided view of a tradition that deserves a more balanced consideration.
There is no question that the welfare of animals matters. Rodeos should be held to high standards. Any abuse should be condemned and punished. But it is unfair to portray all rodeos as cruel or to ignore the cultural significance they hold for our ranching communities.
Modern rodeos are governed by rules designed to protect animal welfare, with veterinarians on site and organizations committed to minimizing risk. O’Connor emphasizes injuries while giving too little attention to the fact that these animals are valuable livestock whose owners have every reason to keep them healthy and well cared for.
Rodeo also preserves skills that grew directly from the practical work of ranching. It celebrates horsemanship and a way of life that has shaped the history and culture of the West.
We can insist upon humane treatment of animals without consigning an entire tradition to the "dustbin of history." Progress need not mean erasing traditions.
Deborah Kaye
Foothills
Senate Hearing of Dr. Fauci
What benefit to society is to be gained by a U.S. Senate committee having grilled Dr. Fauci about the COVID-19 pandemic and now holding him in contempt of Congress?
No amount of questioning will restore the loss of life, answer the cause of the virus, or teach these senators to focus on today’s pressing problems.
The widespread behavior of our elected officials playing the blame game must end. As “Nero fiddled while Rome burned,” these senators are doing the same with Dr. Fauci.
Tim O'Connor
West side
What’s wrong with AI?
It’s too costly. AI has raised our power costs, strained our water supplies and caused environmental harm to our communities.
It’s unpopular. Only 14% support AI data centers in their community. As anger mounts, developers have withdrawn projects where residents mobilized against them.
It’s too costly for tech companies. As bills soared and usage per task became unpredictable, CEOs are looking for cheaper options.
It’s inefficient. Digital workers found they spend 37% of their time gathering files and correcting AI’s work and just 36% using it. Only 13% of businesses report gains due to AI.
It’s unreliable. US State Department’s AI-generated map of Africa displayed at a global AIDS conference mislabeled every country.
It’s dangerous. OpenAI went rogue during a security test that escaped containment, reached the internet and triggered a hack that compromised a startup company’s infrastructure.
What’s wrong with AI? Everything. Do your part and oppose them.
Dr. JB Marshall
Oro Valley
Who's the real terrorist?
Re: Letter, "What did you say?" 2 August 2026.
This letter implies Iran was behind 9/11 attacks and says Iran's government just wants to kill Americans. No. Osama bin Ladin's Al Qaeda did 9/11. News reports on 19 September 2001 showed 5,000 Iranians in Teheran holding a pro-America march, shouting "America condolences" and "Death to terrorists."
Iran's government is in survival mode since Trump's Pearl Harbor-style sneak attack during negotiations that assassinated their ayatollah. Iran has killed eighteen American soldiers in self-defense, while Trump has killed thousands of Iranians.
Iran sent weapons to Iraqi guerrillas because it viewed American military nearby as a threat. But we gave weapons to Afghan guerrillas that killed many Russian soldiers. Russians likely viewed us as terrorists. Terrorism is in the eye of the beholder. If people are dehumanized as terrorists, it is easier to strike them with nuclear weapons. Is this what Trump and others try to justify?
Ronald Pelech
Midtown
The 'Red Scare' redux
Donald Trump and his cronies are attempting to revive the "Red Scare" of the fifties by calling Democrats "Communist lovers" and "haters of America" because they want to guarantee social nets like Social Security, Medicare for all, early education and other social programs. At the same time, Trump and his buddies continue to extol the virtues of his buddies Putin, Xi and North Korea's Kim. What does he think they are?
Barbara Benjamin
Foothills
Crazy race actions?
It's 2026 and race issues should be getting better but they are not! I find it very ironic that Coco Gauff (a very nice attractive dark skin girl) gets called names and threats all the time for playing tennis and since 2015 (when she beat Venus Williams or sooner) and then Catelyn Clark (very nice attractive light skin girl) gets called names and gets beat up in college but mostly the WNBA!!! Jealousy! Both cases! A lot of this is caused by sports betters! I read that some dark skin girls get called the "n" word or "black" for losing games! That is disgusting and terrible ! How and when does this change - anyone?
Jim Coughlin
Northeast side
Forsworn executive
I was born in 1958. I never thought that at the age of almost 70 I would need to fight to keep our form of government, with our three co-equal branches (legislative, judicial and executive) and its separation of powers.
We have an executive who cannot be trusted as he lies regularly and makes stuff up out of thin air. He "swore" to protect and defend the constitution, but how can such a person's "oath of office" be taken seriously? Why even have an oath of office, which in his case is utterly meaningless?
He serves no one but himself. Please please vote carefully or soon we won't have free and fair elections.
Holly P. B. Finstrom
West side
Follow these steps to easily submit a letter to the editor or guest opinion to the Arizona Daily Star.
