{"id":210152,"date":"2026-09-16T20:28:57","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T01:28:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=210152"},"modified":"2026-09-16T20:28:59","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T01:28:59","slug":"ag-candidates-address-flock-cameras","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2026\/09\/16\/ag-candidates-address-flock-cameras\/","title":{"rendered":"AG candidates address Flock cameras"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Nick Evans\/<\/strong>Ohio Capital Journal<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Republican candidate for Ohio Attorney General wants Ohio lawmakers to make abuse of the Flock camera database a felony but keep the system\u2019s use for legitimate law enforcement purposes. His Democratic opponent doesn\u2019t think the plan goes far enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The automated license plate readers have spread rapidly through state and local law enforcement agencies as a powerful tool for finding suspects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The public backlash has grown just as quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to Americans\u2019 abiding unease with government surveillance, critics point to news investigations which uncovered eye-opening examples of police abuse of the Flock database.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
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The two candidates running for Ohio Attorney General have addressed the controversy sounding Flock cameras. VW independent photo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

A bipartisan group of Ohio lawmakers want the state\u2019s transportation agency to rescind Flock permits. One of them is filing legislation to prohibit government agencies from deploying cameras or accessing the database without first getting a warrant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keith Faber, the GOP candidate for Ohio AG in November, wants to punish misuse without losing access to a critical investigatory tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFlock cameras can help Ohio police recover stolen cars, find missing kids, and catch violent criminals,\u201d Faber said in a press release. \u201cBut that data exists to solve crimes. If someone abuses it to violate the Constitutional rights of law-abiding Ohioans, that should be a crime, the same as misusing any other sensitive law enforcement database.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If elected, Faber is promising to work with lawmakers to make abuse of the Flock database a felony. In a video on social media he explained it\u2019s already a felony under Ohio law to misuse of state\u2019s central law enforcement database, known as LEADS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs your attorney general, I\u2019ll work with the legislature to pass legislation and get Flock and similar data that same protection,\u201d Faber sad. \u201cUse it to solve a crime or protect the public, and you\u2019re doing your job. Abuse it or violate someone\u2019s constitutional rights, and you\u2019ve committed a felony. That goes for everyone, badge or no badge.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s no guarantee that lawmakers will agree with his idea, but Faber expressed confidence that \u201cthe legislature would be very receptive to a request from the attorney general to try and put a belt and suspenders around a law enforcement tool that could be abused to spy on Ohioans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is there some other existing statute the attorney general could use to pursue bad actors if lawmakers don\u2019t act? Faber says maybe, but Ohioans would be better served with a straightforward amendment to existing law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John Kulewicz, the Democratic nominee for attorney general, doesn\u2019t think Faber\u2019s plan goes far enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have been advocating for the General Assembly to adopt a wide-ranging data privacy law that limits the use of personal data companies can collect,\u201d Kulewicz said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because Flock is a private company, he worries the data it collects could eventually wind up in the hands of third parties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are constantly tracked, not just by our license plates, but also by our digital footprint,\u201d Kulewicz said. \u201cAny legislation should limit the collection and use of personal data and ban the misuse of any collected data, especially by modern algorithmic decision-makers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ohio state Rep. Levi Dean, R-Xenia, is deeply skeptical of Flock\u2019s license plate reader network. He\u2019s currently filing a bill<\/a> that would restrict \u201cgovernment entities\u201d from deploying cameras, require warrants before gaining access, and prohibit the sale of surveillance data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFlock cameras and automatic license plate readers can be valuable tools,\u201d Dean said in a press release. \u201cBut a tool that can track the movements of innocent Americans can also be abused in the wrong hands.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThink about what the widespread use of these systems could have meant during lockdown orders,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dean wants law enforcement to have \u201cthe tools they need,\u201d but he insisted the principles behind The Fourth Amendment have not changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGovernment power must have limits,\u201d he said. \u201cWe don\u2019t have to choose between catching criminals and protecting our constitutional rights. We can do both.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oddly enough, \u201cwe can do both\u201d has become a familiar formula among public officials defending the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Faber, for instance, said under his proposal, \u201cPolice keep a tool that catches criminals. Citizens keep their privacy. In Ohio, I\u2019m sure we can do both.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But insisting that middle path exists is a lot easier than finding it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Late last month, as Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther announced new safeguards and oversight for the city\u2019s Flock program, he argued the city could protect citizens privacy while continuing to utilize the camera network. A week later he reversed course and paused the program. A USA Today report revealed one Columbus Police officer conducted 272 searches for a single license plate over the course of a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More recently, the city of Reynoldsburg ended its Flock program outright. In a video posted to Facebook, Mayor Joe Begeny referred to their own examples of alleged misuse, but he declined to elaborate because investigations are ongoing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Nick Evans\/Ohio Capital Journal The Republican candidate for Ohio Attorney General wants Ohio lawmakers to make abuse of the Flock camera database a felony but keep the system\u2019s use for legitimate law enforcement purposes. His Democratic opponent doesn\u2019t think the plan goes far enough. The automated license plate readers have spread rapidly through state […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-210152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-24 05:00:05","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210152"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210152\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":210154,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210152\/revisions\/210154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}