Fifth Circuit Weighs Warrantless Flock Camera Searches

The Fifth Circuit is hearing Charles Brownlee's appeal of a 60-year sentence for five armed robberies, with his lawyers arguing that cross-agency Flock camera records used to trace his vehicle were obtained without a warrant. Texas has roughly 13,000 Flock cameras, and an Oklahoma judge has already suppressed similar evidence as indiscriminate mass surveillance.

• Brownlee was sentenced to 60 years for five robberies in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in 2024
• About 13,000 Flock cameras operate in Texas, queryable across agencies
• An Oklahoma judge suppressed data from 50+ vehicle sightings over a month
• DOJ says lawmakers, not courts, should set any camera threshold