A retired veteran in Virginia says he was shocked to learn just how often his car was being watched. Lee Schmidt, who lives in Norfolk, found out through a lawsuit that police license plate cameras tracked his vehicle 526 times between February 19 and July 2. That works out to about four times a day.
“It’s a crazy high number. It was shocking,” Schmidt told NBC News. “The creepiness level just went straight up.”
Schmidt is one of two plaintiffs suing the city with the help of the Institute for Justice, a libertarian nonprofit law firm. His co-plaintiff, health care worker Crystal Arrington, says her car was logged even more at 849 times in less than five months, averaging six times daily, according to NBC News.
The filing says Norfolk struck a $2.2 million deal with Flock Safety to run 176 automatic license plate readers, or ALPRs, through 2027. Norfolk’s system has already been accessed around 200,000 times.
Flock Safety is a private company that supplies surveillance technology, including drones and gunshot detectors. Founded in 2017, it has quickly become the largest provider of license plate readers in the US. The company sells subscriptions to police departments, businesses and homeowners’ associations.
According to the suit, Norfolk is one of more than 5,000 police agencies nationwide now using Flock’s technology. Over 1,000 businesses have also subscribed to the technology.
The plaintiffs argue that the near-constant logging of drivers’ locations amounts to an unconstitutional search under the Fourth Amendment. They want the cameras shut off and the data deleted.
For years, license plate readers have been installed quietly across US roads, snapping photos of passing cars and storing details like time and location. Drivers often never know how much information has been collected.
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Flock, in a statement, said courts have consistently ruled that the readers don’t violate the Constitution.
“Fourth Amendment case law overwhelmingly shows that LPRs do not constitute a warrantless search because they take point-in-time photos of cars in public and cannot continuously track the movements of any individual,” the company said.
The Norfolk Police Department declined to comment, pointing reporters to the city.
A city spokesperson also declined, citing ongoing litigation.
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Retired veteran Lee Schmidt and health care worker Crystal Arrington are suing with help from the Institute for Justice.
Schmidt’s car was logged 526 times in under five months; Arrington’s was recorded 849 times.
The cameras are operated by Flock Safety, a private firm that supplies license plate readers nationwide.
