Line of Sight

2026-07-31

The placement and line of sight of the Flock cameras near Lowe's suggest that watching the parking lot may not be their primary purpose.

Many years ago, I heard a retired Army colonel say, “You can tell the difference between a prison and a warehouse by the way the barbed wire leans. If it leans out, it’s to keep people out. If it leans in, it’s to keep people in.”

That made sense to me then, and it still does now.

So, when I took a ride over to Lowe’s today to make a video about keeping things civil when engaging our elected officials, because they are our friends and neighbors and the surveillance state affects them too, I noticed something curious about the cameras.

Only one camera was pointed toward the parking lot.

Flock camera near the Glebe Road entrance to the Lowe’s shopping area

This is the camera at Glebe Road as you enter the thoroughfare leading to Lowe’s parking lot. Let me write that again: entering the thoroughfare, NOT THE PARKING LOT.

If you are going to McDonald’s and enter from Glebe Road, you get read. If you are going to Hair O’ the Dog and enter from Glebe, you get read. If you enter from Glebe to get to Kohl’s, YOU GET READ, RECORDED, AND IDENTIFIED.

Flock camera partially obscured by a newly planted tree near the Lowe’s Garden Center

I took this picture near the mulch and swing sets by the Garden Center. Notice anything odd?

That expensive Flock Safety camera, which we are told is there to stop people from stealing from Lowe’s, is oddly hidden behind a newly planted tree. The tree obstructs its view of the very thing we are told Lowe’s needs watched.

Closer view of the Flock camera near the Lowe’s Garden Center

A better picture of the lone sentry protecting Lowe’s from crime.

The camera’s obstructed line of sight toward Lowe’s

Make it make sense.

But surely the cameras on the other side, near Wise, MUST HAVE A BETTER LINE OF SIGHT, right?

Flock camera near Wise facing toward the roadway

Oh, look. That’s not aimed at Lowe’s parking lot. It is conveniently positioned to track you.

Closer view of the roadway-facing Flock camera near Wise

A better look at the tattletale.

Flock camera near Wise with a partial inward view

Finally, we get one that is looking inward. But oddly enough, even this camera appears positioned primarily for a line of sight along the road, not toward the merchandise it is supposedly there to protect.

The line of sight tells the story.

These cameras do not appear to be arranged mainly to watch Lowe’s property. They appear to be arranged to identify vehicles moving into, out of, and through the entire shopping area.

Maybe that is merely a coincidence.

Maybe.