Lansing protesters block Flock cameras over license plate reader contract

Residents in Lansing, Michigan, organized by DeFlock Lansing and the Michigan Capitol Visibility Brigade, physically blocked four Flock Safety license plate reader cameras with signs after the City Council voted 7-1 to ask the administration to terminate its Flock contract over privacy concerns. Mayor Andy Schor says the city is locked into the contract for another year and a half and is instead “talking to those interested and impacted,” including crime victims and unspecified other groups.

The protest follows a broader wave of local governments canceling Flock contracts nationwide, spurred partly by a USA Today investigation finding at least 22 law enforcement officials arrested, fired or placed on leave over alleged misuse, including one Florida officer charged after searching a woman's plate 189 times in eight months. Congressional candidate William Lawrence joined the protest, framing the cameras as a Fourth Amendment issue; his opponent, Rep. Tom Barrett, co-sponsors federal legislation that would restrict such surveillance purchases.

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