Police Officer: Your license license plate is registered as stolen license plates in our system.
Driver: Are you serious?
Flock Safety Camera Errors and Police Misuse and Abuse of Flock
Dozens of drivers nationwide say they’re being unfairly pulled over, some even at gunpoint, due to alleged police misuse and abuse of flock safety’s license plate reader errors. It’s not just mistakes causing concern. This week, three Georgia police officers were added to a growing list of cops accused of misuse and abuse of Flock camera technology to allegedly stalk citizens, including ex-wives and girlfriends.
Flock Safety CEO Tries to Explain Away Police Abuse
Flock Camera CEO: I don’t think that Flock created police misuse and abuse.
Reporter: I mean, can you put yourself in those women’s shoes?
Flock Camera CEO: No, it’s horrible, and I apologize.
Reporter: Did you take enough responsibility soon enough?
Flock Camera CEO: I think hindsight is a… brutal tool. Of course we could have done more earlier and we listen and we learn and we’ll continue to move forward. In response,
CEO Garrett Langley New Safety Measures
CEO Garrett Langley says he is rolling out new safety measures including cutting data storage time from 30 days to seven. In January, Flock camera will require all of its roughly 6,000 law enforcement agency clients to opt in to what’s called audit assistance, which flags any potential police misuse and abuse.
Reporter: Why didn’t you make an a requirement as soon as you created the technology?
Flock Camera CEO: We’ve evolved there. We’ve always said we want local control. I think it’s up to our elected officials to decide how long is this data retained.
Who is Looking at this Flock Camera Data and Why?
We put it to the test. We entered the license plate of this CBS News vehicle into the website Have I Been Flocked? It turns out we had. This license plate was searched four times in a two-week window by the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department. We asked why. They didn’t respond.
Reporter: We have no idea why that car has been used for a reporting trip. It’s for a small team of reporters. It’s unsettling.
Flock Camera CEO: I’d be curious to see their response.
Cities Cancelling Contracts with Flock
Reporter: Since January, 50 cities have canceled contracts or stopped using Flock cameras over privacy concerns.
Reporter: Did you underestimate the level of police misuse and abuse of Flock cameras that you might learn about nine years down the road when you founded this company?
Flock Camera CEO: I think I’m like many people that grew up in a safe neighborhood, and assumed that our law enforcement friends were perfect.
Reporter: Some people might say that sounds pretty naive.
Flock Camera CEO: Maybe I’m an optimist. It’s why I started this company, is because I also believe that we can build a safer country. And that’s probably naive as well.
Risk of Surveillance Flock Cameras
Reporter 2: Obviously, Flock cameras have been helpful in finding things like murder suspects, stopping kidnappings, but there are some police misuse and abuse of Flock cameras, so the money question, is this worth the risk?
Reporter: That is the central question. Critics say he’s helped create a surveillance state. He says he’s making America safer, but the studies he’s leaning on were, number one, paid for by Flock. It’s also a small sampling of the 6,000 police departments self-reporting their wins from these Flock cameras. So how can we trust that data?
