Mayor calls for ‘nationwide pause’ on Flock cameras: 'UNCONSTITUTIONAL'

PETER: BLOCK SURVEILLANCE CAMERAS -- FLOCK AFTER A REPORTED 50 LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS USED THE TECHNOLOGY FOR UNAUTHORIZED PURPOSES INCLUDING TO STALK WOMEN. NOW CITIES AND COUNTIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY ARE REJECTING THE USE OF THE RAMAM -- CAMERAS ALTOGETHER. LET'S BRING IN THE MAYOR OF KNOX COUNTY, TENNESSEE, GLENN JACOBS. MAYOR JACOBS, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE. THESE ARE NO ORDINARY LICENSE PLATE READERS. THEY CAN TRACK CARS BY DENTS OR BY BUMPER STICKERS. COPS IN YOUR COUOUNTY WANTED A MILLION DOLLARS' WORTH UNTIL, AS "THE NEW YORK POST" WRITES, YOU,, THE A FORMER WORK WE STAR, CHOKE SLAMMED THE DEAL. WHY? WELL, PETER, FIRST OF ALL, THANKS FOR HAVING ME ON. AS YOU SAID, THESE ARE NOT YOUR TYPICAL OR CONVENTION ALLIANCE PLATE READERS. THEY'RE A LOT MORE THAN THAT. THIS DEBATE IS FRAMED ABOUT LAW ENFORCEMENT VERSUS -- AND PUBLIC SAFETY VERSUS PRIVACY. REALLY, I WANT LAW ENFORCEMENT TO HAVE ALL THE TOOLS THAT THEY NEED. AT THE SAME TIME THOSE TOOLS HAVE TO BE CONSTITUTIONAL AND SAFE. I'M SURE YOU ALL SAW A STORY JUST TWO DAYS AGO WHERE A LADY IN WISCONSIN WAS BOXED IN BY POLICE OFFICERS WHO HAD THEIR WEAPONS DRAWN BECAUSE A FLOCK CAMERA HAD FLAGGED HER CAR AS BEING INVOLVED IN A MURDER. THERE WAS ANOTHER STORY VERY SIMILAR TO THAT FEW WEEK WEEKS AGO WHERE A FAMILY WAS PULLED OVER, POLICE GOT OUT OF THE CARS BECAUSE THEY THOUGHT IT WAS A DANGEROUS SITUATION, THEY THOUGHT IT WAS A STOLEN CAR. IT WAS NOT. IT WAS AN ERROR WITH FLOCK CAMERAS. THOSE ARE NOT ISOLATED INCIDENTS. THEY MAY BE MORE DRAMATIC, BUT THIS SYSTEM IS NOTORIOUSLY ROAN YOUS. THERE'S A CITY IN CALIFORNIA, 7% OF THE HITS -- 7 1% OF THE HITS WERE THE LONG LICENSE PLATES. AND I BELIEVE BECAUSE IT IS A MASS SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM, IT'S UNCONSTITUTIONAL AS WELL. WE'RE TALKING ABOUT SOMETHING THAT'S NOT ONLY NOT SAFE, IT'S UNCONSTITUTIONAL. PETER: TO YOUR POINT, I DID A GOOGLE NEWS SEARCH OF FLOCK CAMERAS, AND THESE WERE THE FIRST THREE RESULTS; OFFICER ALLEGEDLY USED CAMERAS TO TRACK BOYFRIEND'S EX-WIFE, SIX SAVANNAH POLICE EMPLOYEES PLACED ON LEAVE OVER POSSIBLE MISUSE OF FLOCK CAMERAS AND NORTH CAROLINA POLICE INVESTIGATED TEN CASES OF MISUSE BY OFFICERS. IS IT JUST ME OR IS THIS A LOT LIKE THE DAYS OF EDWARD SNOWDEN WHERE HE TAUGHT US ALL ABOUT THESE MASS SURVEILLANCE TOOLS, AND A BIG PART OF HIS POINT WAS PEOPLE WHO WORK FOR THE GOVERNMENT WILL USE THESE THINGS TO STALK EXES OR STALK THE CUTE GIRL ACROSS THE HALL OR OTHERS WHO ARE NOT POLICE TARGETS. RIGHT. AS YOU'VE POINTED OUT, WE'VE SEEN DOZENS OF CASES NOW OF ROAD OFFICERS MISUSING THIS TECHCHNOLOGY. AND SINCE ANTHONY FAUCI'S BACK IN THE NEWS, CAN YOU IMAGINE WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED DURING COVID IF SOMEONE LIKE ANTHONY FAUCI WOULD HAVE HAD THE ABILITY TO TRACK PEOPLE, TO ENCOURAGE LOCAL AND STATE HEALTH K.S TO TRACK -- DEPARTMENTS TO TRACK PEOPLE USING TECHNOLOGY LIKE THIS? IT WOULD HAVE BEEN A COMPLETE DYSTOPIA. SO THERE ARE A LOT OF ISSUES, AS YOU SAY, PRIVACY, ABUSE, ULTIMATELY WARRANTLESS MASS SURVEILLANCE WHICH IS ANATHEMA TO AMERICA. PETER THERE ARE SOME SUCCESS IS STORIES WITH THIS. THERE'S A 17-YEAR-OLD LAST MONTH WHO WAS KILLED IN A HIT AND RUN IN BAKERSFIELD, CALIFORNIA. POLICE SAY THAT THEY CAUGHT THE DRIVER IN THIS HIT AND RUN WITH FLOCK CAMERAS. WHAT HAVE THE POLICE IN YOUR COUNTY TOLD YOU ABOUT WANTING TO HAVE TOOLS TO SOLVE CRIMES LIKE THAT? WELL, SURE. AND, AGAIN, THIS IS NOT ABOUT DEPRIVING THEM OF TOOLS, IT'S ABOUT FIGURING OUT HOW THESE TOOLS CAN BE USED IN AN APPROPRIATE MANNER THAT IS CONSISTENT WITH THE CONSTITUTION. AND AS WE'VE SEEN WITH DOZENS OF CASES, THEY HAVE BEEN ABUSED. THIS IS NOT THE LAST TIME WE'LLL ALSO HAVE THIS DEBATE ABOUT NEW TECHNOLOGY EMERGING. AND UNTIL IT'S READY TO GO AND UNTIL THERE ARE SAFEGUARDS PUT IN PLACE, THERE NEEDS TO BE A NATIONWIDE PAUSE AT LEAST PUT ON THE DEPLOYMENT OF THESE FLOCK CAMERAS. THERE IS NO FEDERAL REGULATORY THE FRAMEWORK MANY PLACE THAT GOVERNS THEM. THE LAWS REGARDING LICENSE PLATE READERS IN TENNESSEE, FROM 2014 WITH ONE VERY MINOR UPDATE IN 2021, THE TECHNOLOGIES HAS ADVANCED SIGNIFICANTLY SINCE THEN. SO WE WANT THEM TO HAVE THE TOOLS THAT THEY NEED, AT THE SAME TIME THOSOSE TOOLS HAVE TO CONFORM TO THE CONSTITUTION. PETER: THE FOLKS AT FLOCK KNEW WE WERE GOING TO TALK TO YOU. THEY SENT US A STATEMENT SAYING DATA IS DELETED AFTER 30 DAYS BY DEFAULT, BUT YOU MADE A GREAT POINT, MAYOR JACOBS, ABOUT WHAT SOMEBODY LIKE ANTHONY FAUCI MIGHT HAVE DONE WITH THIS STUFF IF HE HAD IT FIVE YEARS AGO. WE WILL STAY ON TOP OF THIS.