After traffic stop, congressman vows to rein in Flock cameras with legislation

Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., is vowing to pursue legislation in Congress to rein in the proliferation of Flock cameras by law enforcement after he experienced his own traffic stop aided by the controversial license plate readers.

“I just don't like where we're going with Flock cameras. I think that it's invasive, as you said. It's too big government,” Stutzman told the Just the News, No Noise television show on Friday night. “You know the law enforcement folks would argue that they can use these as a tool. You know they (cameras) can be where you can't have a human.”

Across the country, opposition to the license plate cameras created by Flock Safety is mounting, causing some communities to end their contracts over privacy concerns.

Stutzman recently experienced the long arm reach of the Flock cameras during a car ride in his home district in Indiana.

“I pulled into my driveway, and all of a sudden, a police officer pulls in behind me,” he recalled. “I said, you know, ‘Can I help you? Did I do something wrong?’ And he said, ‘Well, your car's registration has expired.'

“So I looked, and it was in my wife's name. I somehow missed it. Of course, we got it taken care of.  But you know, he recognized my car because the Flock cameras relayed the information that you know we had driven into town, and it was under the jurisdiction of these Flock cameras, and it just, to me, I felt very uneasy about it.”

Stutzman said he and other colleagues in Congress are discussing legislation to put some limits on the use of Flock cameras.

“I think that this is a step too far. There has to be boundaries. There have to be controls in place. You know, of course, you can always argue. Well, we're able to catch the bad guys, but you know what? There's 95% good people out there doing the right thing. We would have taken care of that registration one way or the other. We didn't need a police officer following us to our house we to remind us.”

“Several of us are going to start looking at some legislation to rein these in to be sure that it's not crossing the line and invading people's privacy,” he added.

Some cities in Illinois have chosen to end contracts with Flock Safety, even as police departments have said they’re a useful tool in law enforcement.

In Springfield, aldermen were at odds in recent weeks over an ordinance to renew their contract with Flock for two years, costing taxpayers half a million dollars.

The city council passed the measure while allowing for more transparency and regular public reports on the cameras’ effectiveness.

“It's some simple things, and I'm just asking that to be standard and be given to us on multiple things. Transparency, equitable – making sure that these things are fair – and also reporting back to us so we as a council can, come budget time, look to address these things,” Alderman Shawn Gregory said.

Gregory was opposed to renewing the contract, but he said he was able to draft a plan for transparency based on guidance from organizations like the ACLU.

The council negotiated changes with the police department during the meeting, and passed it with two members opposed to any stipulations.

In contrast, the Madison, Wisconsin, area recently ended their partnership with Flock over data privacy risks and outside access.

Andrew Dodd, a Springfield deputy chief, said the data collected by Flock is stored on servers operated by the company, but there are security measures such as data deletion after 30 days.

He confirmed there are limits on access, aside from departments within 50 miles of the city.

“Our standard right now is within 50 miles. If an agency gets Flock, they can get access to ours because of how close we are. Outside of that 50 mile radius within the state of Illinois, even Illinois agencies have to send a request,” Dodd said.

The Center Square contributed to this story.