Cops Used Flock to Track a Man Across State Lines for a Pretextual Weed Search
Points and comments are a snapshot, not live.
Wisconsin cops used Flock license plate readers to track a man's travel to Michigan as pretext for a weed search.
Police in Wisconsin used Flock cameras to track Edward Abrams-Phillips driving from Wisconsin to Michigan and back, noting he 'travels to Michigan frequently,' a state where marijuana is legal. They used this travel as part of probable cause to stop and search his car for marijuana. Abrams-Phillips was initially wanted for bail jumping on domestic violence charges, but that charge was dismissed; he was found guilty only of marijuana possession. The case highlights surveillance overreach: cameras used to create pretext for tacking on additional petty crimes based on where a vehicle traveled.
What commenters are saying
Commenters question why police needed a pretext if the man had an active warrant, noting the bail jumping charge was weak or dropped. Several argue the Flock data was used not for the stop but to time the arrest to add a marijuana charge, since officers could have searched the car incident to arrest anyway. A split emerges: some see this as effective use of surveillance to catch wanted criminals, while others warn mass surveillance enables pretextual enforcement that ruins lives even when charges are dropped. A commenter provides a direct link to the criminal complaint.