Source: 404 Media
Flock Safety's automated license plate readers are being weaponized for pretextual stops. Authorities tracked a driver across state lines using the surveillance network, then used minor traffic violations as justification to search his vehicle for cannabis. The gap between Flock's marketing—fugitives, kidnappings—and actual deployment is stark: once infrastructure exists for serious crimes, law enforcement redirects it toward routine drug enforcement. The cameras convert into a tool for expanding police authority on fabricated grounds. Flock's public narrative about its purpose becomes operationally irrelevant once the cameras are installed and accessible to any officer with database access.