Here’s How To Know If You’ve Been ‘Flocked’ In FL

Police in Florida are among thousands of agencies nationwide using automated license plate readers to photograph vehicles and add the images to searchable databases.

Flock Safety, the largest provider of fixed license plate readers, says its cameras help police solve crimes, recover stolen vehicles and find missing or endangered people. Civil rights groups warn the same technology can track motorists who are not suspected of crimes and reveal trips to workplaces, medical clinics, religious centers or political events.

Flock says it has deployed about 120,000 cameras across 49 states. Its customers include more than 5,000 law enforcement agencies, along with local governments, businesses, schools, homeowner associations and property managers.

Residents can search Have I Been Flocked by state and police jurisdiction to review Flock audit logs obtained through public records requests. Depending on what records are available, users may see how often an agency searched the system, the reasons officers gave and whether a particular license plate appeared in the logs.

For instance, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office searched the flock camera logs about 100 times on July 1 alone - the most recent date where information is available in the Have I Been Flocked database - on cases that included kidnapping/abduction, searches for wanted to people, motor vehicle thefts, financial crimes and drugs/narcotics.

That same day, the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office searched the flock database 11 times mostly during searches for people who were wanted for crimes.

The open-source DeFlock project also maintains a crowdsourced map showing reported locations of automated license plate readers. The map is not an official or complete inventory, but it may identify cameras reported in Florida.

Residents can also search police policies, city council agendas, meeting minutes, contracts and purchasing records for terms such as “Flock Safety” or “automated license plate reader.”

A St. Petersburg man has launched his own protest of flock cameras in the city.

Carl Gunn has spent his last three Saturdays sitting in front of Flock cameras in different areas while holding a cardboard sign to block their view. He plans to continue these protests every weekend.

"I want the people to know that these are watching us as law-abiding citizens. The Constitution protects us from this. It says it right in there but our government has forgot to read it," Gunn told WTSP.

Privacy advocates, including the American Civil Liberties Union and Electronic Frontier Foundation, have called for warrants, tighter limits on data sharing, shorter retention periods and regular audits. Flock rejects the description of its system as mass surveillance, arguing that its cameras capture vehicles only at fixed public locations rather than following them continuously.

Unless local rules or contracts specify otherwise, Flock says vehicle data is automatically deleted after 30 days.

St. Petersburg police Chief Anthony Holloway defended the use of flock cameras, calling them “a valuable investigative tool.” He said the St. Petersburg Police Department only uses the cameras to solve crimes and “does not use the cameras to monitor people's daily activities or track where people go without a legitimate law enforcement purpose.”

The chief said the department’s safeguards when using flock cameras includes only retaining videos for 30 days, limiting access to them and requiring documentation for the reason they’re being utilized.

“Technology like Flock cameras is one of many tools that help law enforcement protect our communities. When used responsibly and with appropriate safeguards, it can provide critical information that helps solve crimes, recover stolen property, locate missing persons, and enhance public safety while respecting individual privacy,” Holloway said.

• Read more: Crime-Solving Tool Or Mass Surveillance: Inside Flock’s Camera Network