Hi Friends,

"Vagrancy" or "loitering" — the act of standing around — has a long history of criminalizing the unhoused, punishing the unemployed, and forcing formerly enslaved people and their descendants into the form of slavery we call prison labor.

Now we learn that in thousands of cases, police in the United States have used Flock cameras to investigate the crime of "Curfew/Loitering/Vagrancy Violations" — in some cases in connection with the locations of planned protests.

This is a nonsense crime being used to justify violating people's Fourth Amendment rights, and in some cases, their First Amendment rights.

Click here to email your state legislators and governor to ban these cameras — Email them many times!

Another public service you can perform is warning people about nearby cameras. Get a sheet of stickers here!

This work is only possible with your financial support. Please chip in $12 now.

Thanks for all you do!

In Solidarity,
The RootsAction Team

Background:

>> The Intercept: "Cops Are Using Flock to Spy on People for the Crime of Standing Around"

>> Institute for Justice: "Dozens of Innocent Motorists Have Been Pulled Over, Detained at Gunpoint, or Jailed Due to AI License Plate Camera Errors"

>> Gadget Review: "Guilty Until Proven Innocent: A Flock AI Camera Fraudulently Accusing a Driver of Package Theft"

>> Reason: "She Spent 7 Months in Legal Hell After Cops Used Flock Surveillance To Identify the Wrong Car"

>> CNN: "Police officer arrested after tracking ex-girlfriend on Flock camera system over 2,000 times, authorities say"

>> Newsweek: "Police Accused of Misusing Flock Cameras Across 12 States"

>> USA Today: "Our Flock camera investigation sparks police firings, arrests"

>> Gadget Review: "Flock Safety Employees Watched Kids’ Gymnastics Room to Pitch Surveillance Tech"

>> Savannah Morning News: "Four ex-Savannah police employees arrested in Flock database misuse"

>> American Defense Substack: "Virginia’s Flock Camera Law: Strong on Paper, Broken in Practice — And Something Darker Underneath"

>> Idaho Statesman: "ICE, other federal agencies had access to this Idaho city's license plate readers"

RootsAction.org