Shontel Brown
Role at the time: U.S. representative for Ohio's 11th District and ranking member of the House Oversight Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation, in a joint letter to the FBI director
Statement summary
Rep. Shontel Brown and Rep. Greg Casar signed a letter to FBI Director Kash Patel about the FBI's request for proposals for license-plate-reader systems with nationwide search. The letter says a contract giving the FBI access to Flock data across the country "would subvert the clear preference of the American people" and asks for details on the FBI's current Flock and Motorola access, intended use, data storage, sharing and safeguards by October 16, 2026.
“The American people are clearly concerned about law enforcement having access to Flock data and about government surveillance more broadly. Entering into a contract that would give the nation’s largest law enforcement agency access to Flock data across the country would subvert the clear preference of the American people.”
Why we used this label
The reference point is whether networked license-plate reader systems such as Flock should exist and be used. Brown co-signed a letter objecting to a contract that would give the FBI nationwide access to Flock data and asking the bureau to describe its safeguards, which restricts federal access rather than ending the systems, so we labeled it Mixed or conditional and placed it at Limit on the remedy ladder. The closest competing label is Condemned, which would fit a call to end the networks; the letter targets federal access and Flock's safeguards.