Overview
- Flock Safety operates an expansive cloud system of automatic license‑plate readers and vehicle cameras that the company says includes about 120,000 cameras and processes tens of billions of scans each month.
- A Roseville, California internal review found that 71% of alerts tied to stolen or felony vehicles were misreads, raising alarms that alerts can produce large numbers of false positives when deployment or hardware choices are nonstandard.
- Georgia prosecutors have charged or arrested at least 20 public officials for improper searches of Flock data, and Savannah leaders have referred local cases to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation for independent review.
- Cities and police agencies are pausing, ending, or renegotiating contracts — and some cameras have been vandalized — as auditors, watchdogs and local leaders question who controls the data and whether searches need stronger legal limits.
- Flock has rolled out an Audit Assistance tool and says its safeguards detect misuse, but oversight groups and lawyers say the tools are reactive and that audits, procurement rules, and clearer legal standards for warranted searches are now likely to shape policy and court fights.