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Flock Safety has introduced an AI-powered search interface for law-enforcement users of its camera network, enabling officers to search imagery using natural-language descriptions. The system blocks queries based on prohibited attributes including religion and nationality, while searches involving political, social, or cultural expression generate warnings that officers can override after acknowledging the notice and providing a comment; overridden searches are logged and reported to a department administrator.
Civil-liberties researchers warn that these controls are readily bypassed and may fail to recognize protected expression in images or video, making them primarily an audit trail unless agencies actively review and discipline misuse. The concern follows reporting that police have used Flock's automated license-plate-reader network to monitor protesters and activists; one cited test showed a California officer's person search for an "American flag" was blocked, but a vehicle-focused version of the query ran across roughly 11,000 cameras.
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Flock stated that its law-enforcement AI search blocks prohibited attributes such as religion and nationality, while certain searches involving protected expression can proceed after an officer acknowledges a warning, adds a comment, and overrides it. Flock said overridden searches are logged and reported to an administrator in the officer’s department.
A California officer’s person-oriented search for “American flag” was blocked, but a vehicle-oriented version was allowed to run across 11,000 cameras.
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New York advocacy groups allege that state and local police searched **Flock Safety** automated license-plate-reader (ALPR) data for ICE and CBP-related purposes, sometimes logging the requests under generic investigative labels. Separately, reporting has identified dozens of U.S. officers accused, investigated, fired, or arrested for unauthorized ALPR searches, including alleged personal surveillance of romantic partners. The allegations have renewed calls for stricter audit reviews, access controls, retention limits, and restrictions on sharing vehicle-location data with immigration authorities. Scrutiny also extends to the scale of Flock’s network and the wider ALPR market. Flock reportedly explored using Nexar dashcams in rideshare and delivery vehicles to expand law-enforcement-accessible plate collection, though the company said the partnership did not materialize. Flock has reduced default retention from 30 days to one week and added safeguards, but agencies may be able to change those settings. Municipalities are reconsidering deployments: Manchester, Vermont, tabled a decision on its five cameras amid privacy and AI false-positive concerns, while other cities have disabled systems and opposition has included alleged camera vandalism. Civil-liberties advocates warn that alternative providers, including Motorola Solutions/Vigilant and Axon, create comparable mass-surveillance risks.
Sep 4, 2026
Flock Safety announced changes to its automated license plate reader platform after sustained criticism over police misuse of its system, including allegations of stalking and improper searches. The company said it will recommend a **7-day default retention period** instead of 30 days, add offense-based sharing filters, require search-reason logging and Audit Assistance for law-enforcement customers, implement proactive account lockouts for abnormal activity, mandate multi-factor authentication, commission an independent security review by **Bishop Fox**, and launch a coordinated vulnerability disclosure program. Civil-liberties advocates said the measures do not resolve broader risks posed by Flock’s surveillance network, which spans more than **120,000 ALPRs** across at least **6,000 U.S. cities**. Critics argued that exceptions such as **Evidence Mode** could still allow indefinite retention, that prior search-purpose controls were reportedly easy to bypass, and that there is no independent proof the audit tooling reliably detects abuse. The backlash follows reports of at least **46 cases** of alleged improper access and adds to concerns about data sharing, wrongful stops, non-law-enforcement use, and the continued expansion of camera deployments.
Aug 20, 2026
Flock Safety announced privacy and security reforms for its automated license plate reader network after backlash over law enforcement misuse of the platform. The company said it will reduce its standard data retention period from 30 days to seven days, require officers to enter a reason or case code for searches except in genuine emergencies, and let agencies restrict what offense categories can be shared with other municipalities. Flock also introduced **Evidence Mode**, which allows longer preservation of data when permitted by local policy and tied to an investigation. The company said its **Audit Assistance** feature, which flags unusual search behavior for administrator review and can automatically lock out users, will become mandatory for all law enforcement customers by the end of the year. The changes follow reports that officers used Flock systems to stalk romantic partners and other individuals, including a Georgia case involving former sheriff’s deputies, while privacy advocates and researchers have questioned the tool’s transparency and whether independent auditing is needed. Flock defended the changes by saying most searches occur within a week and that its cameras were used in about 1 million investigations last year, including cases that helped locate roughly 10,000 missing people.
Aug 14, 2026