r/RioRancho • u/MetallicTaco07 • 2d ago
As promised...the answers
šØAs promisedšØ
The unedited responses from the Gubernatorial candidates, Deb Haaland and Gregg Hull, regarding their views on mass surveillance, the growing surveillance state, and what needs to be done for New Mexicans... *Body update *: added the text for answers since there is some issue in viewing the graphics)
Haaland 1. As Governor, would you support statewide legislation establishing minimum standards for law enforcement use of automated license plate reader systems, including independent civilian oversight, strict data retention limits, and warrant requirements for accessing stored data?
Yes. I oppose the Big Brother state that Flock cameras are rapidly creating. These cameras log every car that passes, building a searchable record of where New Mexicans live, work, worship, and seek care, whether or not they've ever been suspected of anything. When I'm Governor, no state money will go to Flock. My first budget will put those dollars into the mobile crisis teams and Office of Community Safety I've proposed, because real safety comes from reaching people before a crisis turns into a police call. I'll also take steps to limit the use of this technology and preserve New Mexicans' privacy and civil liberties. Governor Lujan Grisham and the Legislature took an important first step this year with the Driver Privacy and Safety Act. I'll work to build on this foundation by pursuing statewide standards for independent civilian oversight of agencies that use this technology, strict data retention limits, and a warrant before anyone can search stored data. I have a track record of support for privacy and civil liberties. For example, in Congress, I cosponsored the Facial Recognition and Biometric Technology Moratorium Act, which would have barred federal use of facial recognition without explicit authorization from Congress. As | laid out in my Healthcare plan, I will prohibit the use of digital geofencing around healthcare facilities to track or harass patients and providers.
- Do you support residents' right to know if their vehicle is on a law enforcement Hot List, and to have a formal process to contest and remove that designation?
Yes. No New Mexican should land on a police watch list without a way to find out and fight back, because these mistakes can be dangerous. In EspaƱola, police stopped two sisters, the younger only 12, when a Flock camera falsely identified the older sister's car as stolen. Both were held in patrol cruisers, and the 12-year-old was handcuffed. Earlier this year in Sherwood, Arkansas, another Flock error marked a family's SUV as stolen. Police drew their guns on the parents and cuffed them both while their six-week-old was still buckled into a car seat inside. These situations are both terrible and avoidable with the right policies in place. I support giving New Mexicans the right to easily determine whether their vehicle is on a law enforcement Hot List. I support having a formal, timely process to challenge and remove those designations. Every entry should require a documented reason and it should expire unless someone justifies renewing it. No one should be on these lists because of their immigration status, their healthcare, or their constitutionally protected activities.
- New Mexico Senate Bill 40 took effect July 1, 2026, but ALPR systems like Rio Rancho's Flock cameras have been operating since 2021. Would you support a review of data collected before SB 40's effective date to ensure it was not used for immigration enforcement or other prohibited purposes?
Yes. I support a full review of plate-reader data collected before the Driver Privacy and Safety Act took effect. The ACLU of New Mexico found that in one year, agencies nationwide ran thousands of searches of New Mexico camera data for terms like "immigration" and "ICE." It also found that a Texas sheriff's office tapped our data while hunting for a woman over a self- managed abortion. New Mexicans deserve a full accounting. As Governor, I will commission an independent review of the shared data and records, and make the findings public. I Will also work with the Attorney General and local governments to review how local agencies' data was used and support accountability wherever misuse is found. We can then use what we learn to close remaining gaps in the law.
- With respect to 4th amendment questions and government overreach, do you support taxpayers having the right to vote on or provide formal community consent to approve surveillance infrastructure plans and strategies before they are executed by city, county, and state officials?
Yes. Surveillance technology should never arrive in a neighborhood before the people who live there have a say. As Governor, I will push for a statewide law requiring formal public approval before any city or county acquires surveillance technology, expands it, puts it to new uses, or shares its data in new ways. I will direct state agencies not to deploy new surveillance technology without public hearings and approval from the Legislature, and I will push to make that requirement law.
- What is your position on the use of private surveillance companies like Flock Safety as law enforcement partners, given that their contracts contain data sharing provisions that fall outside traditional public records and oversight frameworks?
Private surveillance companies shouldn't be watching or tracking New Mexicans without robust oversight. In addition to ending state funding for these systems, I'll push for guardrails on Flock and similar vendors wherever local governments or businesses still use them. Today, it is Flock cameras but tomorrow it could be another company with similar capabilities, and that underscores why we need firm, reliable guardrails. No company should share New Mexicans' data without safeguards in place. And New Mexicans should be able to sue companies that misuse their data. Police should need a warrant before tapping into privately owned plate-reader cameras. I'll also direct the Department of Transportation to stop permitting these cameras along state highways. Bottom line: no company or law enforcement partner should ever operate in New Mexico if their contracts fall outside established public records and oversight frameworks.
- As Governor, will you commit to prohibiting warrantless access to any mass surveillance database by law enforcement under your jurisdiction, and will you support defunding or discontinuing any surveillance program that cannot demonstrate Fourth Amendment compliance?
Yes and yes. It will be my administration's policy that no agency that answers to me will search a mass surveillance database without a warrant. Ill also support defunding or discontinuing any surveillance program that can't demonstrate Fourth Amendment compliance.
Hull
ā¢ No response provided. Unfortunately, as of 10pm on October 16th, 2026, we have not received a response from the Hull campaign on our questions regarding his views on mass surveillance, the growing surveillance state, and what needs to be done for the concerns of New Mexicans. We did not receive a response of acknowledgement that the email was even received. We followed up on 4 different occasions within a 2 week period.
