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WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — A Wichita man filed a lawsuit against the city on Wednesday, alleging that its use of license plate reader cameras violates the state constitution.
The plaintiff says he is “trapped” in the “indiscriminate and warrantless dragnet surveillance of anyone, and everyone, driving in the City of Wichita.”
The cameras, like the Flock camera, capture images and video of license plates and store the information in a searchable database.
According to the Wichita Police Department, it has 195 Flock cameras in use. The information collected is shared with over 100 law enforcement agencies.
The lawsuit was filed by Mason Grimmett, who argues that the cameras violate Section 15 of the Kansas Constitution, which protects people and property against unreasonable searches and seizures.
The suit claims that the technology allows law enforcement to track residents’ movements and conduct broad searches without reasonable suspicion or judicial approval.
“Wichita is continuously tracking, surveilling, monitoring, and compiling a searchable database on law-abiding Kansans — without a warrant, without probable cause, without reasonable suspicion — without even so much as a hunch — and it’s all done without any judicial oversight whatsoever,” the lawsuit says.
The potential misuse of the cameras is another concern Grimmett highlights in the filing.
To back this claim, the lawsuit cites the case of former Kechi Police Lt. Victor Heiar, who was sentenced to 18 months of probation for using Flock cameras to track a woman.
The filing also references comments made by Wichita Police Capt. Casey Slaughter “apparently in response” to Heiar’s conviction.
“One situation of an outside agency one time misusing the Flock system is not shocking to my conscience at all,” Slaughter told The Wichita Eagle. “It’s just not. And I’m just being real honest. I knew it was going to happen eventually. And it happened.”
The City of Wichita provided KSN the following statement: “We cannot comment on any potential or pending litigation.”
Wichita is not the first city to be sued over its use of license plate readers. In April, three San Jose residents filed a class-action lawsuit against the city and its police department for its use of nearly 500 Flock cameras.