"Church Hill was Flock-free when Steven Keener first moved in nine years ago. It didn’t stay that way."

Your Data Will Be Used Against You (and not just by ICE/CPB). All these technologies will make their way to ordinary law enforcement.

"Flock cameras reverse a core principle of liberty: The presumption of innocence. Instead of investigating specific suspects, they collect and store everyone’s movements “just in case.” This is not targeted policing; it is ambient monitoring." #deflock #surveillance #alpr

This week at The Lookout, I profiled Steven Keener, the CNU crime research who co-authored a first-of-its-kind study on how cops place automated license plate readers. (Spoiler alert: race appears to be a big factor!)

"...not only were the CDC’s crime data less predictive of Flock ALPR placements in Hampton Roads than race and class—they were fully negative predictors. “I cannot emphasize how surprised I was,” he said."

So much effort was put into HB441, which sought to conform the Judicial Inquiry & Review Comm’n to best practices, and make it so half-assed, end of session public shaming wouldn’t be Va’s only form of judicial accountability Last night Senate courts basically treated HB441 like junk mail. Harrumph

"For the first time, we are hearing directly from the two men who were found not guilty of a Sussex County police officer’s 1998 murder, yet still sentenced to life in prison."

Recently, we asked for questions from readers about what local and state leaders are doing in response to the federal immigration crackdown. Our new explainer shares some answers. Our entire team worked on this and it’s *really* worth a read: boltsmag.org/how-state-an...

Fourth Amendment waivers erode trust in law enforcement and are weaponized by police and prosecutors. They are used to specifically target Black and Brown communities, explains Richmond Public Defender, Ashley Shapiro:

BREAKING: Virginia prosecutors can force people to give up their Fourth Amendment rights. 4A waivers permit police to stop & search people at any time for any reason, in RVA 96% of people with them are Black. Our bill banning 4A waivers—SB23–is headed to the Gov! Thank you @salimforva.bsky.social!

ON THE DOCKET: Wednesday, March 4, 2026, Senate Courts of Justice meets 30 minutes after Senate. JIRC Reform, Restorative Justice, Eliminate Felony Charge for Possession of Drug Residue, Mental Heath Evidence Fix, and Eliminate Prejudicial Use of Priors lis.virginia.gov/session-deta...

Louis Rossmann on a recent report on law enforcement #ALPR use in #Virginia. "The best way to deal with this is not to write a #privacy policy, or to have a set of laws, the best way to deal with this is to never build the mass #surveillance network to begin with." Ban ALPRs! 🚫 #deflock

At least 33 agencies said they are violating the new laws Virginia created to regulate Flock cameras (or ALPRs) last year. Several reported still sharing Flock feeds out-of-state. Lawmakers made violations of the rules a misdemeanor. richmond.com/news/state-r... #RVA #VALeg

"These drones are basically being pushed as flying cops, but a cop is not allowed to just take a peek in my backyard whenever they want,"EFF’s Beryl Lipton told @law360.bsky.social, nor are they “allowed to just be taking notes about what's going on in a private space."www.law360.com/articles/24...

ON THE DOCKET: Mon, March 2, 2026, Senate Courts of Justice, 8AM. Aligning Robbery, Eliminate Prejudicial Use of Priors, Restorative Justice, Eliminate Felony Charge for Possession of Drug Residue, Mental Heath Evidence Fix, Marijuana Resentencing & more lis.virginia.gov/session-deta...

Those camps they’re building aren’t being made to detain immigrants….only….

WELL: 13% of VA law enforcement agencies acknowledge they are CONTINUOUSLY SHARING their mass surveillance ALPR data with other states & 6% acknowledge SHARING WITH THE FEDERAL GOVT—both in violation of state law—a newly released report from the VA State Crime Commission shows.

'Shall means shall’ bill praised as ‘most important’ effort of 2026 www.wvtf.org/news/2026-02... #VALeg

ON THE DOCKET: Wed, Feb 25, 2026 Senate Courts will hear a good bill on Deferred Dismissals and a bad bill, HB294, that expands the definition of malicious wounding of a CO—this one is a slap in the face to those advocating against torture of people at Wallens Ridge & Red Onion.

A tiny town in Southside, Virginia with a population of ~6000 people has contracted with Flock to install 400 always-on cameras to surveil its six-square-mile footprint. That's one camera per 15 residents, or nearly 67 per square mile.

LATE & BREAKING: An epic 18.5 of 20 of Justice Forward Virginia’s CJR legislative priorities have passed one chamber of the VA General Assembly and are headed to the other chamber at Crossover! Let’s go!!! You can see a detailed breakdown here justiceforwardva.com/2026-priorit... #VALeg

ON THE DOCKET: Monday, February 23, 2026, Senate Courts of Justice, 8AM. Fix Discovery, CAFA, Align Robbery with the Code, Preserve Access to Diversion, Protect People with ID/DD & Mental Illness, and more lis.virginia.gov/session-deta...

A MN protester accused of assaulting ICE officer had case dropped after vids showed no assault. LA protester accused of assaulting ICE w/ “hat” had case dropped; judge said govt acted in “bad faith” In Chicago, 92 ppl were arrested for assault/impeding ICE; 0 convicted DOJ keeps lying and losing:

The problem with a singular focus on 287g (without considering policing as a whole system) is that it's not even the primary way local law enforcement works with ICE foxbaltimore.com/news/local/m...

We asked people who lived in homeless encampments that were cleared out in city “sweeps” to write about what object was the hardest for them to lose. “They took my baby pictures and my moms obituaries,” a man in California wrote. (Published Dec. 2024)

Sincere Allah was an inspiration to all of us at Justice Forward Virginia. He was a friend, brother, and an example to so many others seeking redemption and restoration. We deeply mourn his passing. Rest in power, family.

community organizing resulted in MANDATORY MINIMUMS being removed from the proposed Marij* legalization bill in Virginia. as well as so many crimes & penalties that would have been enforced in ways that harm our communities and lock up our children

Richmond Free Press ceases publication after 34 years by Keyris Manzanares www.vpm.org/news/2026-02...

ON THE DOCKET: Wednesday, February 11, 2026, Senate Courts of Justice meets 30 minutes after the adjournment of the Senate. FTAs and JIRC annual report lis.virginia.gov/session-deta...

Same strategy used to expand the use of Flock “Safety’s” Automatic License Plate Readers (ALPRs) on roads and highways nationwide. It’s how jurisdictions all over Virginia began using the surveillance tech and why lawmakers have tried to push for their expansion in our legislature.

have never seen popular public opinion shift so fast about a surveillance product than the fallout from ring's super bowl "search party" ad. they'll teach this in advertising courses one day. chef's kiss baby www.404media.co/with-ring-am...

AOC on DHS Warehouses: I think every American should be alarmed. They are building—and have built—a black box system that disappears people, both immigrants and U.S. citizens alike.

ON THE DOCKET: Monday, February 9, 2026, Senate Courts of Justice, 8AM. FTAs, Ban Fourth Amendment Plea Waivers, JIRC annual report, Protect People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (ID/DD) and Mental Health Disorders, and more lis.virginia.gov/session-deta... #VALeg

Your data will be used against you… (and then your dog will not have an owner anymore).

what a shot

Re-upping this.

Ending a long week with bipartisan support for smarter drug policy in Virginia. HB637 creates a misdemeanor for possession of an unmeasurable quantity of a drug, rather than the current felony that carries 1–10 years in prison. Thank you, @katrinacallsen.com and @bradleyrhaywood.bsky.social!

ON THE DOCKET: Friday, February 6, 2026 House Courts Crim Sub will meet 15 minutes after adjournment of the House. Mental Health Evidence Fix, Juvenile Diversion, and a bill to Eliminate Felony Possession of Residue (unusable trace amount). house.vga.virginia.gov/subcommittee...

Our bill to Repeal Mandatory Minimums has been continued to 2027 by voice vote in Va’s House Crts of Justice Crim Sub. We’ll discuss the result formally in coming weeks. Don’t let it stop u from tuning into this episode for convo around a number of other policies still in play. #EndMandatoryMinimums

Legislation is working its way through the 2026 Va. General Assembly session right now that would end similar *local* 287(g) agreements & other ICE entanglements here. Virginians, make sure you tell your state reps you have their back in support of these bills! See acluva.org for more details.

ON THE DOCKET: Feb 4, 2026 House Crts of Justice Crim Sub—15 min after adjournment of committee—Eliminate the Prejudicial Use of Prior Convictions at Trial, JIRC Reform, Eliminate Felony Charge for Possession of Drug Residue, admin action on Repealing Man Mins house.vga.virginia.gov/subcommittee...

BREAKING: The VA House passed FIVE of our legislative priorities—Deferred Dismissals, Preserve Access to Diversion, Fix Discovery, VLDS, & Aligning Robbery with the Code! The bills are aimed to address outdated laws, expand research opportunities, or make technical fixes. #VALeg

DHS is tracking people who protest using biometrics and entering them into databases; hunting people who send emails on behalf of asylum seekers; tracking neighbors who help immigrants w/ facial recognition and license plate readers, and Hakeem Jeffries wants more surveillance tech for every agent.

was honored to go on OnPoint today to talk about AI-powered surveillance: www.wbur.org/onpoint/2026...

ON THE DOCKET: Monday, February 2, 2026 at 8AM, Senate Courts of Justice will continue discussion on Reversing Bad SCOVA Expungement Cases and hear a bill aimed to Expand Research Opportunities for Pretrial Data (VLDS) lis.virginia.gov/session-deta...

“Children were in the crowd screaming.”

This is the beginning not the end of how surveillance will change America. We could stop it. We should. www.washingtonpost.com/technology/i...

ON THE DOCKET: Friday, Jan 30, 2026 House Courts of Justice will meet 15 min after adjournment of the House. Our bills to Eliminate the Prejudicial Use of Prior Convictions at Trial and Allow Defendants to Withdraw Requests for Jury Sentencing in block two house.vga.virginia.gov/subcommittee...

Legal asylum seeker, no criminal record, working two jobs, dragged out of smashed car and kidnapped by ICE as his US citizen newborn cries in a car seat in the freezing cold in Maine and his wife who barely speaks English pleads for help. WTAF

Liam Ramos and his family entered the United States legally, seeking asylum. ICE used him as bait to arrest his father, who has no criminal record. Now, Liam is sick and depressed in a detention facility over 1,300 miles from home. DHS must release Liam and his father now. #BringLiamHome