The discussion swirling around law enforcement’s implementation of Flock cameras, or Automated License Plate Readers, reached the state legislature this week. The cameras that have become a hot-button issue across the country were the focus of the Joint Standing Committee on Government Organization this week.
Local governments that have installed the cameras have been left to catch up to cutting-edge technology for public safety while ensuring the constitutional rights of innocent citizens.
Retired Morgantown Police Chief Ed Preston, who now trains law enforcement officers around the country, pointed out recently on Talkline that technology is advancing quicker than government can keep up.
“The technology has accelerated much faster than what the public, what law enforcement, what your governing bodies have been able to determine. Because artificial intelligence has been growing in leaps and bounds, and has far exceeded what we thought about 25 years ago,” Preston said.
Rapidly evolving technology is a double-edged sword, serving as an effective law enforcement tool while also creating opportunities for misuse and abuse.
Flock Safety, the largest provider of ALPR cameras and other AI tools, has become the poster child for the surveillance state. Its technology and data network can be credited with solving several high-profile violent crimes.
In a 2022 Brooklyn Subway shooting, investigators utilized Flock Safety’s camera network to trace the movements of Frank James, the gunman who opened fire on a Manhattan-bound “N” train in Brooklyn. Camera scans captured the U-Haul van James rented and drove into New York before the attack, establishing a precise timeline and movement pattern that proved critical to the nationwide manhunt.
A suspect wanted for murder in South Carolina was apprehended after a Flock camera at the Boone, NC city limits flagged his license plate. The alert allowed local police and sheriff’s deputies to locate his vehicle at a community recreation center within minutes.
Following an attempted shooting at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Flock Safety cameras positioned around Palm Beach County captured the suspect’s vehicle as he fled the scene. The real-time license plate detection enabled law enforcement to track his vehicle and apprehend him a short time later.
However, the technology has also come with incidents of abuse. The Washington Post recently reported on dozens of law enforcement officers across the country accused of using license-plate readers for unauthorized purposes, including to stalk women without their knowledge or consent.
The technology has also received pushback amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration, stoking fears the data is being used to track down and arrest illegal migrants.
The cameras and how the information they collect is stored, searched and shared has drawn the ire of privacy advocates including the ACLU and the Institute for Justice. The IJ has drawn up model legislation called the “Protecting Everyone from Excessive Police Surveillance Act” or “PEEPS Act.” It establishes a balanced framework to ensure protections guaranteed under the Fourth Amendment while allowing law enforcement to utilize the new technology responsibly and effectively.
Without any federal or state regulations, localities are left to develop their own policies, leaving a patchwork of rules that can vary across the state. On Sunday, state lawmakers appeared to be skeptical that current safeguards provided by Flock are sufficient to guarantee that citizens’ rights and privacy are not violated.
Legislators will have an opportunity in the 2027 legislative session to consider reasonable legislation to provide safeguards to protect innocent citizens’ rights while enabling law enforcement to utilize the technology to protect the public.