ACLU Sues Baltimore Police Over Aerial Surveillance Program

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and its Maryland chapter have initiated legal action against the Baltimore Police Department (BPD), contesting the constitutionality of a wide-area aerial surveillance program. This initiative would subject nearly all residents of Baltimore to constant aerial monitoring.

As of February 17, 2022, the plaintiffs reached a significant settlement with the BPD following a ruling from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which deemed the pilot aerial surveillance program unconstitutional. The terms of the settlement prevent the city from employing a similar surveillance system in the future and restrict the BPD from utilizing any data gathered from the program, except for ongoing prosecutions or disclosures to criminal defendants. Furthermore, the settlement mandates the destruction of all records collected through this program, aligning with the rights of defendants to access information regarding surveillance.

The ACLU's lawsuit argues that this surveillance system poses a serious threat to individuals' rights to privacy and free association, as protected by the First and Fourth Amendments. The organization is seeking an injunction to halt the operation of the aerial surveillance program.

The BPD had partnered with Persistent Surveillance Systems (PSS) to conduct a pilot program known as “Aerial Investigation Research.” This program involved high-resolution camera-equipped planes surveying the entire city for at least 40 hours each week, creating a detailed video record of individuals' movements. The pilot was scheduled to commence in April 2020 for a duration of 180 days.

While the BPD claimed the program aimed to assist in criminal investigations, there are concerns regarding the potential misuse of such technology, especially given past instances where similar surveillance methods have been employed to monitor protests, including those related to the Black Lives Matter movement in Baltimore.

Reported by HarborBeat based on American Civil Liberties Union (source).