Police accused of misusing AI license-plate tracking systems

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Tens of officers have been fired, and some even arrested, for abuse of the Flock AI-powered license plate reader (ALPR) camera systems used by police departments throughout the U.S. 404 Media reports on this purported surveillance abuse, and reckons that the tens of Flock-assisted stalking cases tallied by investigators are just the tip of the iceberg. It also shares details of several cases where police officers go Flock crazy, repeatedly using the system hundreds of times to check on the activity of (ex)romantic partners.

The source report starts with the example case of Jarmarus Brown, an Orange City, Florida, police officer. Investigations reveal that Brown looked up his ex-girlfriend’s (and her close family members’) license plates over 100 times while on patrol. The police officer’s colleagues commented on the activity to Brown, hoping he would stop, and he indicated that he would. However, Brown couldn’t resist stalking using the easy-to-access Flock.

When he was eventually found out by authorities, Brown admitted he’d been "dumb" and blamed his emotional state for his Flock abuse. Research into this case revealed Brown was a very controlling person. For example, the source report says he would insist his girlfriend stay on FaceTime, even during work hours. He also put an AirTag in her wallet.

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This wasn’t a one-off. 404 Media outlines several examples of police Flock abuse in Wisconsin, Missouri, Georgia, and Kansas. Most cases are pretty similar to that of Officer Brown. Obsessed romantically shunned police officers stalk (ex) partners using Flock for months or years before being found out. Mostly, their indiscretions come to light as a result of action from the person being stalked – a complaint, private investigation of some kind.

What we see on the surface is “almost certainly a vast underreporting of the overall abuse,” says 404 Media. This is because only the most egregious cases leading to police being fired or arrested would result in proper investigations and the documenting of the underlying issue.

Flock Security says that with 140,000 monthly active users, abuse is “rare.” It fights lawsuits and potential regulations, which would mean police need a warrant to use Flock. However, police departments allegedly rarely call out Flock abuse. Most complaints come from “victims who have found patterns of abuse in public records files they have obtained from their local police departments,” notes the source.

A plate hit is the start of an investigation, not the end of one.LPR Pro gives agencies the connected intelligence to move faster across jurisdictions, surface patterns and accomplices, and solve more complex cases without adding staff or systems. It's everything your team… pic.twitter.com/KPIZbLq3ZeJune 9, 2026

If you suspect you are being stalked, HaveIBeenFlocked.com is a good place to start by inputting your license plate number. The site has a searchable database of Flock ALPR inquiries released via public records requests. The site’s future could be uncertain, though, as 404 Media says that Flock Security “has repeatedly tried to get that website taken down.”

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Yup. And that's how surveillance can be abused for petty personal reasons. Now, think about the potential for abuses against a political opponent or some community that's being scapegoated by those in power.

That's why privacy rights are so important.

The rights already exist for this.

It was already illegal to do what they were doing.

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The rights already exist for this.

It was already illegal to do what they were doing.

I don't disagree. However, that sort of harassment has a very clear evidence pattern. It has very direct consequences that lead to investigations, which can lead to the perps getting caught and punished.

There are far more subtle ways that surveillance can be abused, where it's not as obvious. Therefore, surveillance systems need to be designed with robust protections against abuse. Ideally, mechanisms to catch abuse before it has real-world consequences.

Also, the Constitution only protects privacy abuses by the government (and only based on a somewhat broad reading of the 4th Amendment). Privacy protections from non-governmental actors is far weaker. We need better laws not only to secure those protections, but also to require robust auditing capabilities, in any mass surveillance systems that are deployed in the USA.

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I don't disagree. However, that sort of harassment has a very clear evidence pattern. It has very direct consequences that lead to investigations, which can lead to the perps getting caught and punished.

There are far more subtle ways that surveillance can be abused, where it's not as obvious. Therefore, surveillance systems need to be designed with robust protections against abuse. Ideally, mechanisms to catch abuse before it has real-world consequences.

Also, the Constitution only protects privacy abuses by the government (and only based on a somewhat broad reading of the 4th Amendment). Privacy protections from non-governmental actors is far weaker. We need better laws not only to secure those protections, but also to require robust auditing capabilities, in any mass surveillance systems that are deployed.

If the data exists, it will be misused.

There isn't a Database Permissions switch on the Flock data, then can only be turned on/off with a valid warrant.

These people presumably needed access for valid reasons. Some segment of them will use if for invalid reasons.

These people knew they weren't supposed to be doing this. They just thought that no one else in their circle would care enough to rat them out.

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If the data exists, it will be misused.

But, you can design systems with robust auditing. Then, you can have watchdogs to catch abuses, before there are real-world and irreversible consequences.

There isn't a Database Permissions switch on the Flock data, then can only be turned on/off with a valid warrant.

These people presumably needed access for valid reasons. Some segment of them will use if for invalid reasons.

I'm of the opinion that the way to design a system to minimize abuse is actually to focus more on auditing than on preventing access. You want to log every operation someone does, into an immutable structure (e.g. a blockchain). That gives them freedom to use technology as they see fit, but with the knowledge that if they abuse their privileges, they will likely be caught.

These people knew they weren't supposed to be doing this. They just thought that no one else in their circle would care enough to rat them out.

That's why we need legal requirements for mass surveillance systems to have built-in auditing and then why an independent auditor should be assigned to review usage and publish reports with enough detailed (but anonymized) statistics that the public can see the auditor is doing their job.

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Logging already occurs.

https://www.aclu.org/news/privacy-technology/police-audit-logs

But that log only captures when the data is accessed.

After that, it is too late.

Of course, what gets logged, how it gets logged, and who or what is responsible for looking at the logs are factors you cannot omit.

I was very clear about this. Logs are a means to an end, but not an end in themselves. The rest of the stuff I mentioned needs to be in place, as well.

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And unfortunately, it is not just the major players like Flock.

RepoMan, schoolbus cameras, etc, etc...

All logging every license plate they see.

Your motions, in those db's, forever.

That's why I'm saying there should be laws that establish requirements systems need to meet, in order for sale and deployment.

That said, I know open source software exists for building & running your own license plate reader. So, I think the practical reality is that we have to focus on mass surveillance systems. Those are also the ones most ripe for abuse and they should also be easier to regulate.

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