Virginia city, police department sued over network of traffic surveillance camera

SAN FRANCISCO - A surveillance camera system used by several Bay Area cities, including San Francisco, is at the center of a lawsuit over privacy rights.

Filed in a Virginia federal court Monday by the public interest law firm Institute for Justice, the suit alleges the Flock Safety license plate reading cameras installed by the city of Norfolk, Virginia violate drivers' civil rights.

The defendants in the lawsuit include the City of Norfolk, the Norfolk Police Department and Police Chief Mark Talbot.

The lawsuit alleges the surveillance system the Virginia city created with the cameras violates Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

The plaintiffs sued the city of Norfolk for using about 170 of the license plate reader cameras. 

San Francisco started installing those license plate reader systems this year.

In a statement, Flock Safety responded that Fourth Amendment case law "overwhelmingly shows" that license plate readers do not constitute a warrantless search because they take photos of cars in public and cannot continuously track the movements of any individual. 

Appellate and federal district courts in at least fourteen states have upheld the use of evidence from license plate readers as Constitutional without requiring a warrant, as well as the 9th and 11th circuits, the company stated. 

"License plates are issued by the government for the express purpose of identifying vehicles in public places for safety reasons," Flock Safety said in an email. "Courts have consistently found that there is no reasonable expectation of privacy in a license plate on a vehicle on a public road, and photographing one is not a Fourth Amendment search."