A company whose license plate readers have been installed in several Connecticut municipalities is the subject of a newly filed federal lawsuit alleging they violate the Fourth Amendment.
The Institute for Justice (IJ), a nonprofit, public interest law firm, recently filed a lawsuit against the city of Norfolk, Virginia on behalf of residents Lee Schmidt and Crystal Arrington who find it “downright creepy” that 172 license plate readers installed across the city as part of a contract with Flock Safety “follow them as they go about their days, noting where they are and when, and storing their movements in a government database for any officer to see.”
The lawsuit alleges that Flock Safety’s system violates the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition against warrantless searches.
License plate readers installed by Flock Safety were also the subject of controversy in Colchester, Connecticut, and have also been installed in other towns in the state.
The Lawsuit
Flock Safety’s website advertising its products, which it sells as a means to eliminate crime in a community, brags about its ability to surveil communities “24/7.” It’s exactly this that Schmidt and Arrington object to.