Jonathan Makeley is a New York historian whose research focuses on American reform movements, including temperance and prohibition. Raised in Angelica, he earned a bachelor's degree in history from Alfred University and a master's degree in history from the University at Buffalo. He became Angelica's town historian in 2017. Makeley chairs the Prohibition Party of New York and is the national party's secretary. He edits the New York Prohibitionist and has written on local history and abolitionism. He is a candidate for New York governor in 2026.
Case
Networked automated license-plate cameras can assemble searchable records of vehicle movements. Candidates and officials disagree over whether to ban the systems, keep them with limits, or defend them as investigative tools. This tracker separates outright bans from narrower restrictions.
Role at the time: Prohibition Party candidate for governor of New York, in an emailed statement
Statement summary
Jonathan Makeley, the Prohibition Party candidate for New York governor, told Dispute Index by email that Flock and similar cameras need at least stronger policies, including safeguards for data and video access, the same standards of access and evidence as regular surveillance cameras, human review of flagged results before police act, and transparency. He said use should be halted wherever proper safeguards cannot be enacted, until they are.
“There should be at the very least stronger policies to address the main issues involved with them. There should be strong safeguards for data and access to video feeds. There should be strong policies enacted to protect against improper access or use of these cameras.”
I’ve been reading about the issue of flock cameras and other similar cameras this year and the concerns that have been brought up about them. There should be at the very least stronger policies to address the main issues involved with them. There should be strong safeguards for data and access to video feeds. There should be strong policies enacted to protect against improper access or use of these cameras. The use of such camaras by law enforcement should meet the same standards of access and evidence that there would be for using regular surveillance cameras. Anything flagged in a data search from such camaras should be verified by a qualified human reviewer before law enforcement should act on it. There should be proper transparency regarding such camaras. If an area or institution is unable to presently enact proper safeguards, then the use of such camaras should be halted, unless or until they are enacted.
The reference point is whether networked license-plate reader systems such as Flock should exist and be used. Makeley would allow continued use under strong safeguards and would halt it only where those safeguards cannot be put in place, so his position is conditional on the safeguards. We labeled it Mixed or conditional with the Guardrails step, since the halt applies only until safeguards are enacted.
Statement dates: September 30, 2026
Statement dates: September 30, 2026
Statement dates: September 30, 2026
Statement dates: September 30, 2026
