Privacy

Norfolk Residents Sue Over Flock Camera Surveillance Network

Published SEP 18 2025

Story

Above: Flock Safety holds a ribbon cutting for its new Boston, Mass., headquarters on July 22, 2025 Image credit: Danielle Parhizkaran/The Boston Globe/Getty Images

The Facts

Lee Schmidt, a retired Navy veteran, and Crystal Arrington, a health care worker, filed a lawsuit against Norfolk, Virginia, alleging that the city's 176 Flock Safety cameras conducted unconstitutional surveillance by tracking their movements 526 and 849 times, respectively, between February and July 2024.
Augusta Free Press
NBC
The Institute for Justice represents the plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit, arguing that Norfolk's use of automatic license plate readers without warrants violates the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches and seizures.
Augusta Free Press
NBC
Norfolk signed a $2.2 million contract with Flock Safety running through 2027, with the city's license plate data being accessed approximately 200,000 times since the camera installation began in 2023.
Augusta Free Press
NBC
Flock Safety operates automatic license plate readers in more than 5,000 communities across 47 states, with over 1,000 commercial businesses and homeowners associations also using the technology nationwide.
Augusta Free Press
NBC
Law enforcement agencies across the country accessed Bridgewater, Va.'s, Flock camera data 6.9 million times over 12 months. While cities like Sedona, Ariz., and Oak Park, Ill., have deactivated their cameras, others, like Syracuse, NY, and Jackson, Wyo., have defended their use.
WHRO Public Media
Jackson Hole News & Guide
The Daily Orange
Virginia passed legislation in 2024, which took effect in July, that prohibits sharing automatic license plate reader data with federal agencies and out-of-state law enforcement. Meanwhile, the Denver, Colo., City Council voted in May not to renew its contract, despite the mayor's claims of successful crime fighting.
WHRO Public Media
Colorado Newsline

Sources Split

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The Spin

Pro-establishment narrative

Despite understandable concerns over a novel technology, Flock Safety's cameras deliver undeniable public safety wins. According to company records, they've slashed crime by 70% overall — 80% in burglaries, 40% in robberies and 30% in violent acts. Its data-sharing tool also just rescued 88 trafficking victims in a 36-hour, 19-state raid, netting 74 arrests and $1 million seized. Precision tools like these multiply law enforcement's impact, prioritizing survivors and public safety.

FOX News

City of Campbell, CA

Establishment-critical narrative

Flock Safety's mass surveillance, with 80,000 AI cameras and new drones, clearly risks turning the U.S. into a dystopian surveillance state. Combine Flock's disregard for privacy with local police departments' willingness to share data with federal authorities, and virtually no one is safe. This company, and the technology it's pushing, must be investigated thoroughly before the entire country becomes a panopticon.

Captain Compliance

Futurism

Editor's Note

This story currently has limited reporting from right-wing sources. We will continue to monitor all major outlets and update our coverage as additional perspectives become available.