Warnock, Britt Push Trump Department of Justice for Guardrails on State, Local Use of Flock Cameras

In a new bipartisan letter, Senators Reverend Raphael Warnock and Katie Britt urged Attorney General Todd Blanche to provide state and local law enforcement with guidance on how to prevent the misuse of automatic license plate readers, like Flock Safety cameras

The bipartisan effort follows growing national concern over the misuse of Flock cameras amid reports of law enforcement officers using them to stalk romantic partners, track Americans without warrants, and monitor personal contacts

This is the first bipartisan Senate action on automatic license plate readers, like Flock cameras

ICYMI in Punchbowl News: Sens. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) and Katie Britt (R-Ala.) are urging Attorney General Todd Blanche to provide guidance to state and local law enforcement on how they can prevent "misuse" of Flock cameras

Senator Reverend Warnock, Britt: "We are deeply concerned about the misuse of ALPR systems and believe that appropriate safeguards are necessary to protect against unauthorized access and abuse, including by individuals who might misuse the technology to stalk and harass their victims"

Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) and Katie Britt (R-AL) are urging Attorney General Todd Blanche to provide state and local law enforcement agencies with new guardrails on how to prevent the misuse of automatic license plate readers (ALPR) like Flock Safety cameras. The senators' new letter follows growing national concern over the misuse of Flock cameras amid reports of law enforcement officers using them to stalk romantic partners, track Americans without warrants, and monitor personal contacts. Increasingly, communities across the country and in Georgia are concerned with law enforcement officials potentially monitoring and tracking their movements without their consent.

"We are deeply concerned about the misuse of ALPR systems and believe that appropriate safeguards are necessary to protect against unauthorized access and abuse, including by individuals who might misuse the technology to stalk and harass their victims. We also want to ensure that funding of these technologies is paired with appropriate oversight to ensure that the funding is not used to facilitate such abuse," said Senator Warnock and Britt.

Flock Safety cameras are automated license plate readers that capture the plate, make, model, and color of passing cars. The cameras-developed by Flock Safety in Atlanta, Georgia-are used by law enforcement agencies across the country to find stolen vehicles, locate missing people, and investigate other crimes.

In recent months, the debate over privacy and police access has intensified, leading to pushback against the use of Flock cameras in local communities. In Georgia, the debate has taken several forms, from protests to town hall meetings, where Georgians are urging their local leaders to end contracts with Flock Safety.

As the use of artificial intelligence spreads into every aspect of American life, Senator Warnock continues to center the privacy and data protection concerns of Georgians in his work in the U.S. Senate. In August 2025, Senator Warnock introduced bipartisan legislation alongside Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) to provide Georgia taxpayers with greater transparency and stronger protections for their personal data from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). In August, Senator Warnock traveled to Effingham County to meet with residents and discuss the impact of OpenAI's new 3.2-gigawatt data center, the largest proposed site in the country. During his visit, Senator Warnock called for a moratorium on data center construction unless certain safeguards around utility bills, transparency, and pollution are in place.

A copy of the letter can be found HERE and text is below:

"Dear Attorney General Blanche,

"We write with great concern over widespread reports regarding the misuse of automatic license plate reader (ALPR) systems, which may be purchased with federal funding. Specifically, reporting indicates that in dozens of cases across the country, police officers have improperly and, in some cases, illegally used ALPR technology to stalk and harass their current, former, or prospective romantic partners. While law enforcement agencies around the country appropriately use ALPR for legitimate public safety purposes including the investigation of violent crime and the location and recovery of missing and abducted persons, misuse of these systems undermines the public's confidence in the technology. We, therefore, write to request information about the Department of Justice's (DOJ) funding and oversight of such systems to prevent such misuse and ensure compliance with applicable federal statutes and regulations.

"State and local law enforcement agencies have widely adopted ALPR systems in recent years to conduct traffic enforcement and support criminal investigations. Flock's ALPR network, the largest in the country, currently contains more than 120,000 cameras across 49 states, with 140,000 monthly active users. ALPRs perform billions of scans of vehicles in the U.S. per month, converting those scans into searchable data on the vehicle's features, its location, and the time. This data is then uploaded into databases and retained for a certain period depending on state laws and regulations, sometimes as long as several years. In some cases, the agency can also choose to share its local data with other law enforcement agencies across the country.

"ALPR systems thus enable law enforcement officials to identify vehicles associated with criminal activity and comprehensively track them across jurisdictional boundaries for investigative purposes.

"However, law enforcement officers have also faced numerous allegations of misusing ALPR systems. In Georgia, at least 20 law enforcement officers have been arrested after abusing their access to ALPR systems. Law enforcement officers in 11 other states have resigned, lost their jobs, or faced investigations after abusing ALPR systems. In total, at least 50 law enforcement officers to date have been charged with, or accused of, using ALPR systems for unauthorized purposes.

"At least 30 of these cases involve law enforcement officers stalking their current, former, or prospective romantic partners. In one case, a police chief used an ALPR system to stalk a former partner by searching the vehicle tags for her and her daughter around 600 times over the course of thirteen months. These cases demonstrate the importance of strong guardrails and safeguards - such as appropriate access controls, auditing, supervisory review, and meaningful consequences of intentional misuse - to ensure that ALPRs' tracking capabilities cannot be utilized by rogue bad actors to threaten, manipulate, and inflict harm on unsuspecting victims. Individuals who abuse their law enforcement access to ALPR systems to harass or otherwise harm another person should be held accountable, including through termination and criminal prosecution where warranted. They shouldn't be permitted to undermine the legitimate use of ALPR technology to protect the public. Furthermore, the misuse of ALPR systems may violate requirements for the implementation of federal funding. This includes a requirement that federal funds and associated programs be "implemented in full accordance with the U.S. Constitution, applicable Federal statutes and regulations," including provisions protecting public welfare.

"We are deeply concerned about the misuse of ALPR systems and believe that appropriate safeguards are necessary to protect against unauthorized access and abuse, including by individuals who might misuse the technology to stalk and harass their victims. We also want to ensure that funding of these technologies is paired with appropriate oversight to ensure that the funding is not used to facilitate such abuse.

"We urge the DOJ to provide guidance to state and local law enforcement agencies on how they can best prevent the misuse of ALPR technology. We also request responses to the following questions by no later than October 21, 2026.

"How much DOJ funding has supported the purchase of ALPR systems?

What grant oversight and accountability mechanisms does DOJ have in place to address potential misuse and unauthorized access involving federally funded ALPR systems?

What, if any, DOJ training is provided to grant recipients on best practices for retaining and accessing data collected by ALPR systems to prevent misuse or unauthorized data access? Does such training address appropriate auditing, supervisory review, and consequences for intentional misuse?

In order to mitigate misuse or unauthorized data access, does DOJ have policies in place regarding the collection, use, storage, disposal, and access to data collected from ALPR systems operated by federal agencies?

Is DOJ aware of whether any state or local law enforcement officers have been accused of misconduct or illegal activity related to the use of federally-funded ALPR systems?

• If DOJ becomes aware of such misconduct, what steps does DOJ take to ensure compliance with all applicable laws and regulations? Do these steps ever include financial penalties or requirements that agencies take corrective, disciplinary, or other remedial action against individuals responsible for intentional misuse?
  
• Does DOJ require applicants for federal funding, for ALPR systems or otherwise, to disclose misuse or abuse of ALPR data? Does DOJ distinguish between misconduct by an individual user and systemic failures by a recipient agency when determining an appropriate response?
  

Has DOJ audited the use of ALPR systems within federal law enforcement agencies for non-law enforcement purposes, including stalking? What controls are in place to identify unauthorized queries and hold federal personnel accountable for misuse"

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