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The firm Flok is monitoring us while we drive:

A retired service member named Lee Schmidt was curious about how frequently Norfolk, Virginia’s 176 Flock Safety automated license-plate-reader cameras were observing him. The response, based on a U.S. District Court filing from September, revealed that it was over four times daily, totaling 526 instances from mid-February to early July. No, there isn’t a warrant out for Schmidt’s detention, nor is there one for Schmidt’s co-plaintiff, Crystal Arrington, who was recorded 849 times in a similar timeframe.

You might believe this appears to breach the Fourth Amendment, which safeguards American individuals from unjust searches and seizures absent probable cause. Well, the American Civil Liberties Union shares this viewpoint. Norfolk, Virginia Judge Jamilah LeCruise also concurs, and in 2024 she determined that plate-reader information acquired without a search warrant could not be employed against a defendant in a robbery case.

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