Rep. Rashida Tlaib proposes bill to ban federal funding for automated police cameras

Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan unveiled the Get the Flock Out of Our Communities Act, a measure that would forbid federal funding for a wide range of automated surveillance tools, explicitly naming automatic license-plate readers, biometric monitoring and facial-recognition systems. The bill, introduced with co-sponsors Sylvia Garcia, Summer Lee, Ilhan Omar, Delia Ramirez, Nydia Velázquez and Bonnie Watson Coleman, sends the proposal to the House Oversight and Government Reform and Judiciary committees.

It requires any equipment acquired with federal money to be removed within 30 days of enactment and mandates permanent deletion of prohibited surveillance data within seven days, barring its use in legal proceedings. Additionally, applicants for Byrne and Community Oriented Policing Services grants must certify they do not maintain or use such technology. The legislation arrives amid growing scrutiny of Flock Safety’s cameras, which have faced criticism over data access, potential abuse, and immigration-enforcement concerns, while other bipartisan bills targeting the same technology are also moving through Congress.