The Republican gubernatorial nominee and the civil liberties group both warn against warrantless tracking of law-abiding drivers.
OKLAHOMA CITY — Mike Mazzei and the American Civil Liberties Union would seem unlikely allies. On Flock cameras, however, they sound much alike.
Mazzei criticized the Oklahoma City Council last week for extending the city’s contract with Flock Safety, which provides automatic license-plate readers used by law enforcement.
“The Oklahoma City Council got this one wrong,” Mazzei wrote on Facebook. “Flock cameras track where you drive, when, and how often. Not criminals. Everyone.”
The Republican gubernatorial nominee said that as governor, he would oppose using the cameras to track law-abiding Oklahomans without a warrant.
“You shouldn’t have to trade your privacy for the right to drive to work,” he wrote.
A national ACLU fundraising email sent Thursday made a similar case. The organization described Flock’s network as a mass-surveillance system that photographs passing vehicles and creates a database capable of tracking people’s movements.
The ACLU cited cases involving immigration enforcement, an investigation of a woman’s self-managed abortion and a person who wrote a critical opinion piece about a police department.
Some differences remain
The ACLU is urging cities to end their Flock contracts. Mazzei criticized Oklahoma City’s decision but was silent on whether the cameras should be removed or what restrictions he would support.
The organization’s model legislation also permits limited uses of plate readers, including felony investigations, searches for missing people and identifying unregistered or uninsured vehicles.
Mazzei supported that last use as a state senator. He voted in 2016 for Senate Bill 359, which authorized plate readers to identify vehicles without required insurance. The program restricted the sale and unauthorized sharing of the information collected.
For now, Mazzei and the ACLU are delivering much the same warning: A law-enforcement tool should not become a way to follow the movements of people suspected of no crime.
