Federal Judge Rules Flock Safety License Plate Search Unconstitutional in Oklahoma
A federal judge in Tulsa, Oklahoma, has ruled that a sheriff’s deputy violated a woman’s Fourth Amendment rights by using Flock Safety’s automated license plate reader (ALPR) system to search for her vehicle without a warrant. Judge Sara Hill stated that the deputy had “no apparent reason” for the search other than the vehicle having a California license plate. The ruling led to the suppression of evidence, specifically 91 pounds of meth, found after the Flock search, deeming it “fruit of a poisonous tree.” Judge Hill criticized the Flock database as a form of “indiscriminate mass surveillance,” noting that it collects information on all vehicles passing by network-connected cameras and provides it to law enforcement on demand, which she distinguished from targeted individual surveillance. This decision, while not creating binding precedent, marks one of the first instances a federal judge has declared a Flock search unconstitutional.
