RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Let's operate for a moment under the assumption that the primary purpose of law enforcement is to keep communities safe. What would make you feel less safe: a person who travels about an hour to purchase weed from a neighboring state where it's legal, or a police force that uses a multi-state network of cameras to track and record that person's behavior to coordinate his arrest for possession of weed?
According to a report from 404 Media , the Brown County Sheriff’s Department in Wisconsin used Flock cameras, which record the license plates of every vehicle that passes by them, to identify and arrest a resident of Wisconsin for purchasing marijuana. Per the report, the cops used Flock's network of cameras to track the man as he drove from Wisconsin, where possession remains a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine for a first offense, to Michigan, where recreational weed purchase and possession are legal.
Per the report, the cops looked up his license plate and found that he "travels to Michigan frequently." Of course, they couldn't prove by the cameras alone that he was going to Michigan to buy weed. But apparently just going across state lines is enough to create suspicion. In a criminal complaint filed by the police against the man, they call Michigan a "known source state for marijuana as it is legal there."
That was apparently enough of a pretext for the police to act. Once his car's plates got a hit on a Flock camera showing that he was returning home from Michigan, the cops "made a coordinated effort to intercept" his vehicle. They pulled him over, and the arresting officer claimed to have "detected the odor of what he knew to be raw marijuana coming from inside the vehicle.” They searched his car, found the weed, and charged him with possession, of which he was found guilty, according to 404 Media .
It's just the latest example of the police making use of Flock's network of cameras that stretch across the nation for dubious purposes. The Wisconsin arrest was at least ostensibly related to law enforcement work, even if it reads as a significant overreach. But there have been dozens of reports at this point of police using Flock's network to track former romantic partners. One cop in Florida used Flock to track and eventually pull over a woman he met days earlier and was attracted to.
Wisconsin law enforcement has been disproportionately weirdos about having access to Flock, though (or at least they've been disproportionately caught in the act). A Milwaukee cop resigned after it came to light that he looked up his ex's plates 179 times in two months. An officer in Menasha got placed on leave for monitoring his former partner's location via Flock cameras. In Kenosha, a cop resigned after an investigation found that he was using Flock cameras to keep tabs on a coworker he had a "personal relationship" with.
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