Flock camera misidentification cases
An ALPR hit is a machine reading, and machine readings are wrong sometimes — a misread character, a stale hot-list entry, a plate matched to the wrong state. When the response to a hit is a felony stop, the cost of that error is borne by the driver. This page tracks 4 reported cases.
4
Stories tracked
October 8, 2026
Most recent story
August 8, 2026
Earliest tracked
Flock camera misidentification cases: the coverage
Every item links to the outlet that reported it. FlockScanner does not write, verify or endorse these stories — see the content policy for how the feed works.
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Flock Safety Sued After Police Track Colorado Woman and Wrongly Accuse Her of Stealing $25 Package
Law Commentary · October 8, 2026
Flock Safety Sued After Police Track Colorado Woman and Wrongly Accuse Her of Stealing $25 Package — reported by Law Commentary.
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Flock Safety’s Massive Error Rate is Subjecting Innocent Drivers to Felony Stops
Yahoo · September 28, 2026
Flock Safety’s Massive Error Rate is Subjecting Innocent Drivers to Felony Stops — reported by Yahoo.
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Alarming rise in mistaken vehicle stops tied to automated license plate readers
NBC News · September 22, 2026
Alarming rise in mistaken vehicle stops tied to automated license plate readers — reported by NBC News.
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After Flock Safety image led to false arrest, ACLU urges Cumberland Town Council to cancel contract
SteveAhlquist.news · August 8, 2026
After Flock Safety image led to false arrest, ACLU urges Cumberland Town Council to cancel contract — reported by SteveAhlquist.news.
Read the summary → Original reporting at SteveAhlquist.news ↗
Common questions
Can a Flock camera misidentify a car?
Yes. ALPR systems can misread characters, match a plate to the wrong state, or return a hit against a hot-list entry that is out of date. Reported consequences have included wrongful stops, handcuffing and at least one false arrest that prompted an ACLU response. The severity depends less on the misread itself than on whether an officer independently verifies the hit before acting on it.
Other news topics
- Cities that cancelled Flock cameras (168)
- Flock camera privacy concerns (124)
- Opposition to Flock cameras (115)
- Flock camera data sharing and breaches (97)
- Flock camera audits and oversight (74)
- Flock camera misuse and abuse cases (49)
- ALPR and Flock camera legislation (46)
- Flock camera lawsuits (44)
- Flock camera vandalism reports (15)
- Flock cameras and immigration enforcement (3)
Where the cameras are
FlockScanner also maps documented ALPR camera locations across the US — see the live map, camera locations by state, or cameras near you.