How Cops Are Trying to Hide Their Use of Flock

6 hours ago

Wapello County police policy explicitly instructs officers not to mention Flock ALPR usage to vehicle occupants or in reports.
The policy advises using vague language like 'county resources' to obscure Flock use.
This secrecy is part of a broader pattern: police nationwide are told to be vague about Flock, and contracts are often made without public debate.
The sheriff justifies the policy as protecting investigative methods from criminals.

Flock provides police with a coaching guide on how to pitch its license plate reader technology to city councils, even amid public opposition.
The guide advises police to avoid debating whether the technology constitutes mass surveillance and instead reframe the discussion around governance and community safety.
Flock encourages police to build support early by briefing city managers and council members before public meetings, and to use a carefully scripted presentation.

Joel experienced a wrongful police stop due to an NCIC database error amplified by Flock cameras, not a Flock system error.
Flock CEO Garrett Langley defends the technology, citing over a million crimes solved last year and a very low false positive rate.
Langley advocates for modernizing the FBI's NCIC database with expiration periods and feedback loops to prevent stale data.

Flock Safety lied to Oshkosh city council about its ALPR system not creating heat maps, leading to contract approval and rapid revocation within a day.
Flock has a pattern of misleading government customers, including falsely claiming no federal data access in Colorado, then admitting it had contracts with CBP and DHS.
Despite denying data sharing with ICE, Flock knew local police shared ALPR data with immigration agencies, and its misleading blog downplayed the issue.

A writer was mistakenly arrested due to Flock license plate camera system error.
Flock's AI matched partial plate '34 DTM' to similar but non-stolen plate '34 10 DTM', causing false alerts.
The issue affects all vehicles with similar plate structure nationally where Flock is used.

Flock Safety's expansion into law enforcement has led to widespread criticism and multiple cities canceling agreements due to public outcry.
The system generates numerous false positives, as seen when automated plate readers misread New Jersey license plates, causing innocent drivers to be wrongly targeted.
In Minnesota, a journalist test-driving a Range Rover was surrounded by police because Flock misread the plate as stolen due to a missing small digit on NJ plates.

Flock provides police with a coaching guide on how to pitch its license plate reader technology to city councils, even amid public opposition.
The guide advises police to avoid debating whether the technology constitutes mass surveillance and instead reframe the discussion around governance and community safety.
Flock encourages police to build support early by briefing city managers and council members before public meetings, and to use a carefully scripted presentation.

Joel experienced a wrongful police stop due to an NCIC database error amplified by Flock cameras, not a Flock system error.
Flock CEO Garrett Langley defends the technology, citing over a million crimes solved last year and a very low false positive rate.
Langley advocates for modernizing the FBI's NCIC database with expiration periods and feedback loops to prevent stale data.

Flock Safety lied to Oshkosh city council about its ALPR system not creating heat maps, leading to contract approval and rapid revocation within a day.
Flock has a pattern of misleading government customers, including falsely claiming no federal data access in Colorado, then admitting it had contracts with CBP and DHS.
Despite denying data sharing with ICE, Flock knew local police shared ALPR data with immigration agencies, and its misleading blog downplayed the issue.

A writer was mistakenly arrested due to Flock license plate camera system error.
Flock's AI matched partial plate '34 DTM' to similar but non-stolen plate '34 10 DTM', causing false alerts.
The issue affects all vehicles with similar plate structure nationally where Flock is used.

Flock Safety's expansion into law enforcement has led to widespread criticism and multiple cities canceling agreements due to public outcry.
The system generates numerous false positives, as seen when automated plate readers misread New Jersey license plates, causing innocent drivers to be wrongly targeted.
In Minnesota, a journalist test-driving a Range Rover was surrounded by police because Flock misread the plate as stolen due to a missing small digit on NJ plates.

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