NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) – A major ruling from the Virginia Court of Appeals pertaining to a Norfolk case.

Documents show the Appeals Court ruled that Norfolk police do not need a search warrant to access data from the city’s Flock cameras, reversing a lower court decision.

The decision stems from a January 2024 investigation involving Ronnie Church, who was accused of attempted rape and abduction. Police used Flock camera photos to question Church about his route on the day of the alleged crimes. Flock technology captures license plates.

Police used three Flock images to show that Church was traveling a different route than what he reportedly described. When police confronted Church with this information, he reportedly said he “may have made a U-turn.” Church then moved to suppress the statements he made to police, arguing that using those images violated his Fourth Amendment rights, which protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures.

The Norfolk Circuit Court initially threw out parts of the suspect’s statements, saying they were inadmissible because the search of the Flock cameras violated his privacy. However, the Appeals Court reversed this decision, stating that drivers have no reasonable expectation of privacy for their vehicles on public roads.

“Because the Flock system simply took pictures of the license plate and Church’s vehicle as he drove it down public thoroughfares in the City of Norfolk, the circuit court erred in ruling that a search warrant was required for police to access the Flock system,” according to the Virginia Court of Appeals ruling.

Flock Safety applauded the Commonwealth v. Church ruling on Oct. 14, 2025. “Today’s ruling reinforces what courts nationwide have recognized: LPRs are lawful,” said Dan Haley, Flock Safety’s Chief Legal Officer. “Flock’s technology is an essential public safety tool that was designed to operate entirely within the bounds of the Fourth Amendment, and we have a team dedicated to improving our privacy and compliance features.”

The suspect’s case is now set to return to the lower court for trial, following the Appeals Court’s ruling.