In California town, Flock misread license plates in 71% of alerts sent to police
3 hours ago
- Flock Safety's AI-powered license plate readers in Roseville, California, had a 71% misread rate for stolen or felony alerts in 2023-2024, according to police department analysis.
- Roseville's atypical camera setup—only capturing vehicle backs, higher placement, and older hardware—contributed to frequent misreads and missed vehicles.
- Despite errors, the city continues using Flock because the cameras have helped solve crimes; Roseville spent around $450,000 on Flock products since 2020.
- Flock apologized for errors and proposed solutions, but the police department disputed claims of significant improvement and continues to report issues.
- Misreads have led to harmful incidents elsewhere, such as an innocent driver being mauled by a police dog after a digit was misread.
- States like Montana and California are considering or have passed laws requiring officers to independently verify license plate alerts before making stops.
- Privacy concerns and inaccuracies have sparked backlash, with dozens of communities canceling or pausing contracts with Flock Safety.