Crime-Solving Tool Or Mass Surveillance: Inside Flock’s Camera Network
Investigators say the cameras were used in stalking and harassment cases, with Flock involved in 46 of the 50 officer misuse cases reviewed.
- A Washington Post analysis found at least 50 law enforcement officers nationwide accused of misusing Automatic License Plate Readers , including Flock Safety systems, to stalk women without their knowledge or consent.
- Flock Safety's camera network now scans roads in more than 6,000 communities, recording 20 billion plate scans monthly. While designed for crime investigations, critics argue the system's broad access has enabled officers to repurpose it for personal surveillance.
- Former Georgia police chief Michael Steffman was arrested after audit logs revealed he used Flock cameras to track Marci Bakely roughly 600 times over 13 months. Bakely remained unaware until discovering the searches through a public records website.
- Flock CEO Garrett Langley stated misuse of the system is "inevitable," saying the company focuses on tools to catch perpetrators after the fact. In April, the company rolled out a voluntary "audit assistance" feature to scan for suspicious officer activity.
- With no federal laws governing ALPR use, roughly 18,000 police agencies set their own standards. The Electronic Frontier Foundation argues that without stricter oversight, the technology remains vulnerable to misuse by individual officers.
23 Articles
23 Articles
Flock Safety installed more than 120,000 cameras in the U.S.: what data they collect and why they worry about migrant organizations
Flocking our way to a police state: The issue with Flock Safety cameras
When the Flock Safety company introduced its automated license plate reader (ALPR), the cameras were sold to the public as a safety measure to aid in the search for missing persons and stolen cars, and assist police departments in apprehending alleged criminals. What the public received instead was a supercharged surveillance State wherein artificial intelligence […]
Public records laws must modernize
Surveillance technology without accountability is a recipe for authoritarianism, but with strong guardrails and transparency, it can help stop crime, including crimes committed by law enforcement.An article in the Washington Post chronicled how police officers were caught abusing surveillance technology to stalk ex-wives and, in at least one case, an actress a police officer wanted to meet. Critics of surveillance technology could point to this …
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