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Resident urges Monongalia County to cancel Flock ALPR contract over privacy concerns
Summary
Logan Wheatcraft told commissioners the county's network of Flock automatic license-plate readers creates a "warrantless digital dragnet," lacks a public transparency portal and may conflict with recent Supreme Court privacy rulings; he urged termination of the contract immediately.
Logan Wheatcraft, a Cheat Lake resident, told the Monongalia County Commission on July 4 that the county's contract with Flock automatic license‑plate reader (ALPR) technology threatens citizens' privacy and lacks sufficient public oversight. "It creates a massive, warrantless digital dragnet operated by a private 3rd party," Wheatcraft said during public comment, and he urged the commission to cancel the contract.
Wheatcraft challenged comparisons made by the sheriff in an earlier meeting that equated data collected by ALPRs to cell‑phone data, calling that a "classic false equivalency" and noting people choose to carry phones while they do not choose to be recorded by a government‑funded camera network. He cited Supreme Court precedents (Riley v. California and Carpenter v. United States) as foundations for expectations of privacy in movement data and said lower court rulings remain divided on ALPR constitutionality.
Wheatcraft also raised specific transparency questions for the county: why Monongalia County does not provide a public‑facing Flock transparency portal; which outside agencies receive local data; and why searchable license‑plate and vehicle images of people not under investigation are retained rather than deleted immediately. "If that is true, I ask this commission 3 simple questions," he said, listing those points.
The comment period recorded during this meeting did not include replies from county leadership or the sheriff to these questions. Commissioners did not take immediate action on the contract during the session. The transcript of this meeting records Wheatcraft's request but shows no formal response or decision; commissioners thanked him for his comments and moved on to other agenda items.
Next steps: Wheatcraft said he plans further public engagement and told the commission, "You'll be seeing more of me." The commission did not schedule any vote or formal review of the Flock contract during the July 4 meeting.
