Baltimore Police Must Expunge 'Spy Plane' Data, According To Lawsuit Settlement
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- The Baltimore Police Department and the company that operated a surveillance plane program were ordered to expunge all records captured above the city as part of a federal lawsuit settlement.
The settlement also blocks the City of Baltimore from implementing a similar program in the future, according to the ACLU.
Persistent Surveillance Systems ran the "AIR" pilot program for six months, flying over Baltimore City. Powerful cameras on the plane beamed images to an office near police headquarters.
The pilot program ended in fall 2020. In February 2021, the city's Board of Public Works officially nixed the program.
The order to purge the data will become effective only after every criminal prosecution that relies on evidence or information obtained from the program is final. It is not clear how many cases rely on evidence from the short-lived operation.
The order is part of a federal lawsuit brought against the department in 2020. The ACLU and ACLU of Maryland filed a lawsuit on behalf of Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle -- a Baltimore think-tank -- and activists Erricka Bridgeford and Kevin James.
"This dystopian aerial surveillance program never should have been permitted to get off the ground," the ACLU said in a tweet Thursday.
In June 2021, the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled the program is unconstitutional. The 8-7 decision from the court ruled the aerial surveillance violated citizens' Fourth Amendment rights.
The parties entered into the settlement agreement in early January, according to court documents.
