Usage of automated license plate readers (ALPRs) can be error-prone, which has repeatedly resulted in traumatic law enforcement actions against innocent people:

• A flock camera in Aurora, CO incorrectly identified an SUV as a stolen motorcycle, resulting in the shocking arrest of an innocent family, including four children ages 6-17. The family received a $1.9 million settlement after suing the city.
• A woman and her two-year-old son were detained by police from their home in Detroit based on the faulty determination from ALPR data that her vehicle was involved in a shooting. She received $35,000 in a settlement with the Detroit Police Department.
• A man was arrested at gunpoint in Atherton, CA after ALPRs incorrectly identified his vehicle as stolen. He received $45,000 in a settlement of a suit alleging wrongful arrest.
• A woman in Denver, CO was falsely accused of stealing packages based on a combination of Flock tracking of her car and Ring footage of the package theft. Only when presented with independent evidence of her whereabouts demonstrating the impossibility of their allegations did the police drop charges.

An often cited selling point of Flock cameras is that they serve as a “force-multiplier” for understaffed police departments. Yet, it is precisely understaffed departments that struggle to properly investigate the mistakes associated with automated systems like Flock — mistakes that dramatically affect innocent people and impose major settlement costs.

Given that the Berkeley Police Department (BPD) constituted 33% of the City’s 2026 budget, impending budget shortfalls of $30 million per year will certainly affect staffing levels in the department. Can Berkeley afford to pay expensive settlements like those listed above resulting from the faulty operation of Flock?

We say: No to Flock!