Common Questions, Arguments, & Responses when discussing Flock Surveillance

A Wikipedia editor revised the Flock Safety surveillance article to add misuse cases in Milwaukee and Georgia, correct a misquoted student, change a Columbine Valley recording to ring footage, and cite Kansas case numbers. The edits document an October 2025 incident where an AI gun detection system at Kenwood High School in Baltimore County misidentified a student's Doritos as a firearm, and a September 2025 case where Columbine Valley Police Sergeant Jamie Milliman accused Chrisanna Elser of theft based solely on Flock Safety ALPR data.

add the milwaukee and georgia misuse cases and the audit-log changes, correct a misquoted student, correct the columbine valley recording to ring footage, and cite the kansas case numbers to the court filing | ← Older revision | Revision as of 04:11, 13 August 2026 | || | Line 41: | Line 41: | || In October 2025, an AI-powered gun detection system at Kenwood High School in Baltimore County misidentified a student's snack food as a firearm, triggering an armed police response. Taki Allen was sitting outside the school with friends eating Doritos when officers with drawn weapons approached him. | In October 2025, an AI-powered gun detection system at Kenwood High School in Baltimore County misidentified a student's snack food as a firearm, triggering an armed police response. Taki Allen was sitting outside the school with friends eating Doritos when officers with drawn weapons approached him. | || <blockquote '' | <blockquote ''They made me get on my knees, put my hands behind my back, and cuffed me''<ref name=":3" / </blockquote | || Allen was forced to his knees, handcuffed, and searched before officers realized he was unarmed. Allen described watching about eight police cars arrive, with officers pointing guns at him. | Allen was forced to his knees, handcuffed, and searched before officers realized he was unarmed. Allen described watching about eight police cars arrive, with officers pointing guns at him. | || | Line 97: | Line 97: | || On September 27, 2025, Columbine Valley Police Sergeant Jamie Milliman went to the Denver home of Chrisanna Elser to serve a court summons for petty theft, accusing her of stealing a package valued at $25 or less from a porch in neighboring Bow Mar on September 22, 2025. Milliman based the accusation entirely on Bow Mar's Flock Safety ALPR network, which had logged Elser's green Rivian truck passing through the town between 11:52 a.m. and 12:09 p.m. on the day of the theft.<ref name="cosun-elser" {{cite news |last=Paul |first=Jesse |date=2025-10-28 |title=A suburban police officer used a Flock surveillance camera to accuse a Denver woman of theft. Then she had to prove him wrong. |url=https://coloradosun.com/2025/10/28/flock-camera-police-colorado-columbine-valley/ |access-date=2026-04-24 |work=The Colorado Sun}}</ref | On September 27, 2025, Columbine Valley Police Sergeant Jamie Milliman went to the Denver home of Chrisanna Elser to serve a court summons for petty theft, accusing her of stealing a package valued at $25 or less from a porch in neighboring Bow Mar on September 22, 2025. Milliman based the accusation entirely on Bow Mar's Flock Safety ALPR network, which had logged Elser's green Rivian truck passing through the town between 11:52 a.m. and 12:09 p.m. on the day of the theft.<ref name="cosun-elser" {{cite news |last=Paul |first=Jesse |date=2025-10-28 |title=A suburban police officer used a Flock surveillance camera to accuse a Denver woman of theft. Then she had to prove him wrong. |url=https://coloradosun.com/2025/10/28/flock-camera-police-colorado-columbine-valley/ |access-date=2026-04-24 |work=The Colorado Sun}}</ref | || Ring doorbell footage of the encounter, reviewed by The Colorado Sun, recorded Milliman refusing to view Elser's Rivian dashboard camera footage, which she offered as proof that her vehicle never stopped in Bow Mar. Milliman told her, "If you are going to deny it to me, I am not going to help you with any courtesy."<ref name="cosun-elser" / <ref name="cbs-elser" {{cite news |date=2025-11-13 |title=Flock cameras lead Colorado police to wrong suspect |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/flock-cameras-lead-colorado-police-wrong-suspect/ |access-date=2026-04-24 |work=CBS News Colorado}}</ref | ||| Elser then assembled a digital alibi using her Rivian's onboard cameras, the vehicle's GPS log, and surveillance footage from a tailor shop she was visiting at the time of the theft. She located the actual theft video on NextDoor, which showed a different person who never entered a truck. After she submitted the evidence, the summons was voided.<ref name="cosun-elser" / <ref name="cbs-elser" / | Elser then assembled a digital alibi using her Rivian's onboard cameras, the vehicle's GPS log, and surveillance footage from a tailor shop she was visiting at the time of the theft. She located the actual theft video on NextDoor, which showed a different person who never entered a truck. After she submitted the evidence, the summons was voided.<ref name="cosun-elser" / <ref name="cbs-elser" / | || | Line 163: | Line 163: | || Las Vegas Metropolitan Police officer Christopher Young was arrested in December 2023 for stalking his ex-fiancée using police databases.<ref {{cite news |last=McCandless |first=C.C. |date=2024-02-16 |title=Las Vegas police officer arrested for reportedly stalking ex-fiancée |url=https://www.fox5vegas.com/2024/02/16/las-vegas-police-officer-arrested-reportedly-stalking-ex-fiancee/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240216010507/https://www.fox5vegas.com/2024/02/16/las-vegas-police-officer-arrested-reportedly-stalking-ex-fiancee/ |archive-date=2024-02-16 |work=FOX5 Vegas}}</ref Investigations by the Associated Press and others have found that such misuse often remains undetected until a victim files a complaint or an external audit occurs.<ref {{cite news |last=Tucker |first=Eric |date=2016-09-27 |title=When cops abuse confidential databases |url=https://apnews.com/general-news-699236946e3140659fff8a2362e16f43 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230721171815/https://apnews.com/general-news-699236946e3140659fff8a2362e16f43 |archive-date=2023-07-21 |work=Associated Press}}</ref | Las Vegas Metropolitan Police officer Christopher Young was arrested in December 2023 for stalking his ex-fiancée using police databases.<ref {{cite news |last=McCandless |first=C.C. |date=2024-02-16 |title=Las Vegas police officer arrested for reportedly stalking ex-fiancée |url=https://www.fox5vegas.com/2024/02/16/las-vegas-police-officer-arrested-reportedly-stalking-ex-fiancee/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240216010507/https://www.fox5vegas.com/2024/02/16/las-vegas-police-officer-arrested-reportedly-stalking-ex-fiancee/ |archive-date=2024-02-16 |work=FOX5 Vegas}}</ref Investigations by the Associated Press and others have found that such misuse often remains undetected until a victim files a complaint or an external audit occurs.<ref {{cite news |last=Tucker |first=Eric |date=2016-09-27 |title=When cops abuse confidential databases |url=https://apnews.com/general-news-699236946e3140659fff8a2362e16f43 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230721171815/https://apnews.com/general-news-699236946e3140659fff8a2362e16f43 |archive-date=2023-07-21 |work=Associated Press}}</ref | || CNN reported in July 2026 that Milwaukee officer Josue Ayala was found by internal affairs detectives to have ''secretly used Flock to learn the location of his romantic partner 124 times and that partner's ex 55 times, according to a February criminal complaint''.<ref name="cnn-misuse" {{Cite web |url=https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/26/us/flock-cameras-surveillance-abuse |title=Inside the growing police use and misuse of Flock's license-plate reader cameras |author=Eric Levenson |date=2026-07-26 |publisher=CNN |access-date=2026-08-10}}</ref The detective who investigated him, Tehrangi Chapman, was later charged with felony misconduct in public office & misdemeanor misuse of a GPS device, after admitting to using Flock to track two people & to installing a GPS device on one person's vehicle.<ref name="cnn-misuse" / CNN reported that officers using Flock ''had to write a brief explanation of the reason for conducting a search, but these explanations were vague'', & that Ayala gave his reason as ''investigation'' while Chapman listed ''training'' & ''test''.<ref name="cnn-misuse" / CNN reported the incidents sit among ''at least two dozen cases in which officers resigned or were arrested for allegedly abusing Flock's automated license-plate reader system to stalk romantic interests, according to a tally from the Institute for Justice''.<ref name="cnn-misuse" / Flock chief executive Garrett Langley told CNN, ''This is such a powerful tool, we don't want to reduce the efficacy of the 99.99% of officers who go to work every single day and want to do good for their community.''<ref name="cnn-misuse" / | ||| Atlanta News First reported in July 2026 that it ''identified at least 20 cases in Georgia in the past year in which officers faced discipline and/or criminal allegations tied to improper use of the Flock system''.<ref name="anf-georgia" {{Cite web |url=https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2026/07/17/ai-audit-tool-flags-suspicious-police-searches-flock-misuse-cases-mount-georgia/ |title=AI audit tool flags suspicious police searches as Flock misuse cases mount in Georgia |author=Brendan Keefe |date=2026-07-17 |publisher=Atlanta News First |access-date=2026-08-10}}</ref One of them was Paige Forte, a supervisor at the Conyers Police Department real-time crime center, whom the Georgia Bureau of Investigation alleged had accessed the system ''for non-law enforcement purposes'' more than thirty times between April & July 2026.<ref name="wrdw-forte" {{Cite web |url=https://www.wrdw.com/2026/07/24/ga-police-supervisor-arrested-after-flock-audit-department-says/ |title=Ga. police supervisor arrested after Flock audit, department says |date=2026-07-23 |publisher=WRDW |access-date=2026-08-10}}</ref | ||| Flock has pointed to those same audit logs as the mechanism that catches misuse. Company spokesperson Paris Lewbel told Atlanta News First that ''Flock's audit tools have proven effective at enabling accountability, in many of the rare documented cases of misuse of our platform, it was our own audit logs that surfaced the issue''.<ref name="anf-georgia" / The same reporting found that the logs had become less informative: ''Atlanta News First Investigates found that Flock has removed officer names from audit logs where outside agencies search a department's data, replacing the officer names with anonymized Flock ID numbers.''<ref name="anf-georgia" / Lewbel attributed the change to activists using publicly released audit data to identify undercover officers, saying nearly 200 law enforcement leaders had raised the concern.<ref name="anf-georgia" / | ||| Two Kansas prosecutions are documented by case number in a petition filed in Sedgwick County. Former Kechi police lieutenant Victor Heiar was found guilty of unlawful use of computers & stalking in ''State v. Heiar'', Case No. 2022-CR-001620.<ref name="grimmett-petition" {{Cite web |url=https://kansasjusticeinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/1-Petition.pdf |title=Grimmett v. City of Wichita, Petition for Declaratory Judgment, Case No. SG-2026-CV-002760 |date=2026-07-29 |website=Kansas Justice Institute |access-date=2026-08-12}}</ref The Kansas Reflector reported he was sentenced to eighteen months on probation.<ref name="ksreflector" {{Cite web |url=https://kansasreflector.com/2026/07/31/kansas-lawsuit-challenges-wichita-law-enforcements-reliance-on-license-plate-reader-cameras/ |title=Kansas lawsuit challenges Wichita law enforcement's reliance on license plate reader cameras |author=Tim Carpenter |date=2026-07-31 |publisher=Kansas Reflector |access-date=2026-08-10}}</ref Former Bonner Springs detective Kyle Rector was charged with eighteen counts including stalking, unlawful use of computers, breach of privacy & official misconduct, in ''State v. Rector'', Case No. WY-2026-CR-000309.<ref name="grimmett-petition" / | ||| Researchers and civil liberties organizations have documented audit findings and policy gaps in agency oversight of ALPR access. While vendors and agencies rely on access logs and written policies, audits have found that these safeguards have not consistently prevented or detected misuse.<ref {{cite web |date=2023-02-22 |title=Automated License Plate Readers widely used, subject to abuse |url=https://stpp.fordschool.umich.edu/news/2023/automated-license-plate-readers-widely-used-subject-abuse |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230617100257/https://stpp.fordschool.umich.edu/news/2023/automated-license-plate-readers-widely-used-subject-abuse |archive-date=2023-06-17 |work=University of Michigan}}</ref <ref {{cite web |last=Davidson |first=Nikki |date=2024-04-16 |title=ALPR Audit Takeaways: What We Learned About Policy Gaps |url=https://www.govtech.com/biz/data/alpr-audit-takeaways-what-we-learned-about-policy-gaps |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240417005310/https://www.govtech.com/biz/data/alpr-audit-takeaways-what-we-learned-about-policy-gaps |archive-date=2024-04-17 |work=Government Technology}}</ref | Researchers and civil liberties organizations have documented audit findings and policy gaps in agency oversight of ALPR access. While vendors and agencies rely on access logs and written policies, audits have found that these safeguards have not consistently prevented or detected misuse.<ref {{cite web |date=2023-02-22 |title=Automated License Plate Readers widely used, subject to abuse |url=https://stpp.fordschool.umich.edu/news/2023/automated-license-plate-readers-widely-used-subject-abuse |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230617100257/https://stpp.fordschool.umich.edu/news/2023/automated-license-plate-readers-widely-used-subject-abuse |archive-date=2023-06-17 |work=University of Michigan}}</ref <ref {{cite web |last=Davidson |first=Nikki |date=2024-04-16 |title=ALPR Audit Takeaways: What We Learned About Policy Gaps |url=https://www.govtech.com/biz/data/alpr-audit-takeaways-what-we-learned-about-policy-gaps |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240417005310/https://www.govtech.com/biz/data/alpr-audit-takeaways-what-we-learned-about-policy-gaps |archive-date=2024-04-17 |work=Government Technology}}</ref | || | Line 331: | Line 339: | || Albert Fox Cahn, founder of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, stated that the allegations in the Moreno Valley case "add to the growing body of evidence that American surveillance is fueled by a broken revolving door between industry and government."<ref name="tc" / | Albert Fox Cahn, founder of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, stated that the allegations in the Moreno Valley case "add to the growing body of evidence that American surveillance is fueled by a broken revolving door between industry and government."<ref name="tc" / | || The Cleveland and Moreno Valley cases illustrate different but related gaps in ethics law. In Ohio, the state revolving-door statute excludes legislative matters from the cooling-off period.<ref name="orc-102" / | The Cleveland and Moreno Valley cases illustrate different but related gaps in ethics law. In Ohio, the state revolving-door statute excludes legislative matters from the cooling-off period.<ref name="orc-102" / California Government Code § 1090 bars public officers from being financially interested in contracts made by the body they serve.<ref name="cagov-1090" / In both cases, municipal-level protections were either absent or insufficient: Cleveland has no local lobbying registration or cooling-off ordinance,<ref name="cle-171" / while Moreno Valley had no mechanism to prevent a sitting mayor from accepting private employment with a city vendor.<ref name="tc" / | || ==See also== | ==See also== |