Police Misuse of Flock License-Plate Readers Sparks Nationwide Audits

Investigative reporting revealed that officers in several U.S. departments have used Flock’s automated license-plate reader system for personal purposes. In Indianapolis, an officer performed 3,759 searches over ten months to track vehicles linked to his wife and acquaintances. In Haines City, Florida, Officer Christopher Goodson repeatedly searched his wife’s plate for nearly two years, entering keywords suggesting drug, assault and fugitive investigations despite no criminal case. Highland Heights, Ohio, identified an officer who queried five plates more than 1,000 times each. In Fort Bend County, Texas, court documents allege Officer Sergio Rodriguez used the system for at least five months to follow a woman’s vehicle and placed a tracking device on her car. Each case prompted internal suspensions, criminal investigations, or termination.

KTRK - ABC13 - Houston

Flock Safety, an Atlanta-based startup, supplies more than 120,000 automated license-plate readers to roughly 6,000 law-enforcement agencies nationwide. The company’s dashboard logs every search, including date, time and officer-entered reason, but it does not mandate uniform auditing standards. Thirteen states require periodic audits; many departments lack formal policies or regular review practices.

Oakland Press

• 301 Flock cameras operate in Indianapolis.

The Vindicator

• At least 69 police officials have been accused, charged or convicted of misuse.

Oakland Press

• The Institute for Justice has documented over 100 alleged incidents of ALPR abuse.

The Vindicator

• Analysts estimate 1 %–2 % of officers nationally may engage in improper searches.

Oakland Press

Police Chief Tanya Terry (Indianapolis) emphasized the department’s “clear policies” intended to limit use to crime solving and acknowledged the lack of a regular audit practice until recent investigations. Chief Dennis Matejcic (Highland Heights) confirmed the officer’s access to Flock was removed pending investigation. Chief Michael Goins (Prairie Grove, Illinois) described his department’s newly instituted weekly audits after a former officer ran hundreds of searches on personal contacts. Boardman Police Chief Todd Werth highlighted internal audits that mirror the safeguards now being built into Flock’s software.

Oakland Press

Advocacy groups argue that the absence of systematic safeguards enables abuse. Walker Lasbury, founder of Eyes Off Indiana, warned that “the problem is, we don’t have the safeguards in place to identify this kind of misuse, let alone prevent it.” ACLU senior policy counsel Chad Marlow criticized Flock for treating privacy concerns as public-relations issues rather than structural problems.

Mother Jones

• “When conduct falls short of our standards, we will acknowledge it, correct it, and improve.” — Walker Lasbury, Eyes Off Indiana

Oakland Press

• “Police officers are human just like other people and susceptible to temptation,” — Michael Goins, chief

Oakland Press

• “Abuse should be dealt with accordingly, but you can determine where the valid uses are and what abuses are. There's accountability.” — Detective Ty Hyshaw

The Vindicator

Flock announced its “Audit Assistance” tool will become the default setting, automatically flagging abnormal search patterns, and will require users to enter a valid case number before each query. State Senator Al Cutrona (Ohio) has introduced a bill prohibiting the sharing of Flock data with outside parties and limiting data retention to ten days, with violations constituting a fourth-degree felony. Several municipalities have cancelled or paused contracts, and a growing number of departments are adopting weekly or monthly audit routines.

The Vindicator

These developments illustrate a nationwide reckoning with the balance between the investigative benefits of automated license-plate readers and the privacy risks posed by unchecked access.

The Vindicator