Drivers are used to seeing these small, solar-powered cameras on every street corner. But when surveillance creeps into the entrances of residential communities, at every intersection, targeting all vehicles around the clock, it becomes intrusive and infringes on everyone’s privacy. That’s what thousands of protesters argued in late August across the country.
Under public pressure and in the face of a surge in acts of anti-camera vandalism by citizens, many states—including Florida—have revoked all access permits to the Flock database for local police departments regarding the so-called “Flock” cameras, named after the company that distributes them. According to the Florida Department of Transportation, these cameras must be removed by early October at the latest.
Unlike more traditional cameras, which activate and record only when a red light is run or in cases of speeding, the technology known as ALPR (Automated License Plate Readers) records everything—not just traffic violations. And thanks to AI, it filters images with great precision. A police officer can ask the system for “all vehicles with drivers wearing a blue T-shirt and a cap,” or even identify stickers or damaged rear bumpers on a vehicle.
Useful to Law Enforcement
There are 120,000 ALPR cameras nationwide, and 10,000 in Florida: they scan every license plate without exception. They are very useful to law enforcement when they need to locate a suspicious vehicle quickly. On July 27, a 13-year-old girl from Monroe County was abducted from her home, and the Marion County Sheriff’s Office used Flock cameras to track the vehicle in real time and find her safe and sound.
Numerous abuses and errors
But according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), ALPR cameras make license plate reading errors in one out of every ten cases, leading to wrongful arrests—as in New York, where citizens were violently and wrongfully arrested, and even injured by a police dog, following a misidentification of the vehicle.
In addition, numerous cases of abuse have been reported, as access to Flock’s database was relatively unrestricted. Dozens of municipal police officers used it to track and harass private citizens. A deputy sheriff in Monroe County was arrested after authorities alleged that he had harassed a woman he had recently met.
In Texas, a law enforcement officer conducted a nationwide search across more than 83,000 Flock cameras to track down a woman who had had an abortion.
Furthermore, police forces that collaborated with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) helped arrest undocumented immigrants using ALPR cameras.
What happens now?
Flock assures that access is now restricted to law enforcement officers with a legitimate reason to conduct a license plate search, and that data is stored for only seven days (down from 30 previously), unless specifically requested by authorities.
Where are the Flock cameras located?
Official information is not disclosed, but there are numerous community-driven websites where you can check where ALPR cameras are installed in your neighborhood:
https://deflock.org; https://eyesonflock.com; https://haveibeenflocked.com.
Translated with Deepl
