Flock Safety, a company known for its automated license plate recognition (ALPR) cameras, has developed a new AI-powered surveillance system called OS Investigate, which extends beyond its initial focus on vehicle tracking. WIRED reconstructed the system's code, revealing its capacity to integrate license plate scans with other data, including case files. This expanded functionality is already being utilized by some law enforcement agencies.
Flock Safety, founded in 2017, provides surveillance hardware and software to law enforcement, neighborhood associations, and private property owners. By 2025, the company stated it operated in over 5,000 communities across 49 U.S. states, processing more than 20 billion vehicle scans monthly. The company's network combines cameras, image recognition, and machine learning to share data with police departments. While Flock initially emphasized its ALPRs "focus on vehicles, not people," its Condor line of cameras tracks moving objects, including individuals, and the company advertises its ability to "identify people and vehicles." Additionally, Flock offers a tool called FreeForm, which enables police to search for anything in a scene using natural language. Public records have shown police using this tool to search for characteristics of individuals, such as race, gender, clothing, height, tattoos, and perceived political affiliation.
The OS Investigate system, as reconstructed by WIRED, appears to centralize various data streams for law enforcement. Flock's Nova platform, which is related to OS Investigate, integrates data from records management systems (RMS), computer-aided dispatch (CAD), ALPRs, jail records, and public records. This allows officers, analysts, and leadership to access relevant information from a single platform, facilitating faster case workups and cross-agency coordination. The system also aims to provide officers with case context before engagement, supporting preparation and response.
The expansion of Flock Safety's surveillance capabilities has drawn scrutiny. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) conducted investigations into Flock's ALPR network throughout 2025, highlighting its potential for mass surveillance and misuse. The EFF documented instances where Flock's infrastructure was used to track protesters, target Romani people with discriminatory searches, and surveil women seeking reproductive healthcare. For example, between December 2024 and October 2025, over 3,900 agencies logged more than 12 million searches, with hundreds related to political demonstrations. One instance involved a Johnson County official performing searches related to a woman who had an abortion, probing thousands of networks and cameras nationwide.
Concerns about misuse by law enforcement officers have also emerged. The Washington Post reported in August 2026 that at least 50 law enforcement officers had been charged with misusing Flock's tools. Incidents included officers using ALPR systems to stalk former romantic partners. In response to these reports, Flock Safety announced policy changes in August 2026. The company stated it would reduce its default data retention period from 30 days to seven days and require all customers to adopt audit monitoring tools by the end of the year. These tools track abnormal activity and flag it for review, with user accounts automatically suspended during an investigation. Additionally, officers will be required to input case codes for all searches, though emergency searches can bypass this requirement, triggering an administrator review. Flock also introduced an "Evidence Mode" feature, allowing investigators to store specific license plate data for active criminal investigations beyond the standard retention period.
Despite these changes, civil liberties advocates remain concerned. Chad Marlow, senior policy counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union, described the announced changes as largely a public relations tactic, though he acknowledged the reduced data retention period as a potentially positive step. The ACLU of Oregon also noted in November 2025 that Flock's product changes are often made silently, raising concerns about the unchecked expansion of surveillance. The organization highlighted that Flock's cameras can capture detailed information about individuals' lives, including their movements to doctors' offices, religious institutions, and political gatherings.
Flock Safety maintains that its technology assists in crime deterrence, emergency response, and investigations. The company claims its cameras have helped solve a significant number of crimes annually. For instance, the Tulsa Police Department has used Flock to identify suspect vehicles and generate leads in homicide cases. Flock also markets its services for addressing organized retail crime, vehicle and catalytic converter theft, and burglary. The company's products extend beyond ALPRs to include video cameras, gunshot detection sensors, and drone as first responder systems.
The ongoing debate surrounding Flock Safety's technology centers on the balance between public safety and individual privacy. As the company continues to develop and deploy more advanced AI surveillance systems, the scope of data collection and its potential applications by law enforcement will likely remain a subject of public and legal scrutiny.