Flock Highlighted Police Departments Using Its Tech. Now 4 Face Allegations of Misuse
Flock Highlighted Police Departments Using Its Tech. Now 4 Face Allegations of Misuse
Flock 曾宣传其技术在这些警局的应用，如今其中 4 家却面临滥用指控
Flock, the increasingly controversial automatic license plate reader (ALPR) company, has previously highlighted at least four police departments on its YouTube page that have since faced allegations of misusing the company’s technology. Flock 是一家备受争议的自动车牌识别（ALPR）公司。此前，该公司曾在其 YouTube 页面上重点宣传过至少四家警察局，而这些警局后来都面临了滥用该公司技术的指控。
The company featured the Savannah Police Department in a March 2022 YouTube video. Four officers and two workers from the department were recently placed on administrative leave after an internal investigation found “potential misuses” of Flock’s ALPR system. Also in Georgia, the Albany Police Department was the subject of a glossy 2024 video. Five officers from the department were recently arrested and charged in connection to their alleged misuse of the technology. 该公司曾在 2022 年 3 月的一段 YouTube 视频中介绍了萨凡纳（Savannah）警察局。近期，在内部调查发现 Flock 的 ALPR 系统存在“潜在滥用”行为后，该局的四名警官和两名工作人员已被停职。同样在佐治亚州，奥尔巴尼（Albany）警察局也曾是 2024 年一段精美宣传片的主角。该局近期有五名警官因涉嫌滥用该技术而被捕并受到指控。
Flock also highlighted the Sandy Springs Police Department in a 2020 video about how the company was helping police combat so-called porch pirates. Last year, a Sandy Springs Police Department officer was terminated amid an internal investigation into alleged misuse of Flock’s technology. The Baytown Police Department was featured in Flock’s 2025 video about responding to a carjacking; last week, a Baytown police officer resigned amid ongoing investigations into alleged misuse of the technology. Flock 还曾在 2020 年的一段视频中重点介绍了桑迪斯普林斯（Sandy Springs）警察局，展示该公司如何帮助警方打击所谓的“门廊海盗”（偷窃快递者）。去年，桑迪斯普林斯警察局的一名警官在针对其涉嫌滥用 Flock 技术的内部调查中被解雇。贝敦（Baytown）警察局则出现在 Flock 2025 年关于应对劫车事件的视频中；上周，一名贝敦警官在针对其涉嫌滥用该技术的持续调查中辞职。
Allegations of ALPR misuse have plagued police departments across the country, including in states like Kansas, North Carolina, Ohio, and Wisconsin. In Georgia alone—home to the Savannah, Albany, and Sandy Springs police departments—allegations of ALPR misuse have also been reported at the sheriff’s offices of Coweta County, Cherokee County, Habersham County, and Richmond County. ALPR 滥用的指控困扰着全国各地的警察局，包括堪萨斯州、北卡罗来纳州、俄亥俄州和威斯康星州。仅在萨凡纳、奥尔巴尼和桑迪斯普林斯警察局所在的佐治亚州，科维塔县、切罗基县、哈伯沙姆县和里士满县的治安官办公室也报告了 ALPR 滥用的指控。
While these incidents show that police departments have mechanisms to detect and address ALPR misuse, Flock’s promotional materials show that it can occur even at departments that were touted as exemplary. 虽然这些事件表明警察局拥有检测和处理 ALPR 滥用的机制，但 Flock 的宣传材料显示，即使是在被誉为典范的部门，此类滥用行为也可能发生。
In response to WIRED’s request for comment, Flock spokesperson Paris Lewbel emphasized that “misuse was identified and addressed.” He said that incidents of misuse shouldn’t discount Flock’s usefulness to police departments. 在回应《连线》（WIRED）的置评请求时，Flock 发言人 Paris Lewbel 强调，“滥用行为已被发现并得到处理”。他表示，滥用事件不应削弱 Flock 对警察局的实用价值。
“That is exactly why accountability tools and internal review processes exist,” Lewbel said in an emailed statement. “When improper use is detected, agencies can investigate, take action, and hold individuals accountable. That should be viewed as evidence that oversight mechanisms are working, not as a sign that the entire department or city should be broadly condemned.” “这正是问责工具和内部审查流程存在的原因，”Lewbel 在一封电子邮件声明中说道。“当发现不当使用时，机构可以进行调查、采取行动并追究个人责任。这应该被视为监督机制正在发挥作用的证据，而不是整个部门或城市应该受到广泛谴责的迹象。”
The Flock YouTube channel’s video about the Albany Police Department features interviews with senior crime and intelligence analyst David Sparks, whom Flock recognized as a “Power Partner” in 2024, and chief Michael J. Persley. In it, Sparks describes Flock as a crucial tool for fighting “property crime” and “crimes of opportunity.” Flock YouTube 频道关于奥尔巴尼警察局的视频中，采访了高级犯罪与情报分析师 David Sparks（Flock 在 2024 年将其评为“实力合作伙伴”）以及局长 Michael J. Persley。视频中，Sparks 将 Flock 描述为打击“财产犯罪”和“机会型犯罪”的关键工具。
“To ensure that the community trusts us, there are a lot of things we have to do, and the first part of building that trust is open, honest transparency and communication,” Persley says in the video. “So I’m not trying to listen to your conversations, I’m not trying to see what’s happening in your backyard. We wanna make sure that you’re safe.” “为了确保社区信任我们，我们必须做很多事情，而建立这种信任的第一步就是公开、诚实的透明度和沟通，”Persley 在视频中说。“所以我不是要窃听你们的谈话，也不是要窥探你们后院发生的事情。我们只是想确保你们的安全。”
On July 6, the Albany Police Department announced that it had fired five officers following an internal investigation into “serious policy violations involving the improper use” of ALPRs. The police department said that three of these officers were fired for improper use of ALPRs, while the other two were fired for “separate, unrelated policy violations uncovered during the administrative investigation.” The Georgia Bureau of Investigation charged the officers for misuse of license plate data and violating their oaths of office. 7 月 6 日，奥尔巴尼警察局宣布，在对“涉及不当使用” ALPR 的“严重违规行为”进行内部调查后，已解雇了五名警官。警方表示，其中三名警官因不当使用 ALPR 被解雇，另外两名则因“在行政调查中发现的与此无关的其他违规行为”被解雇。佐治亚州调查局指控这些警官滥用车牌数据并违反了就职誓言。
The Albany Police Department did not respond to WIRED’s request for comment. 奥尔巴尼警察局未回应《连线》的置评请求。
Flock’s Savannah video centers on an interview with then major of police Robert Gavin, who praised how Flock facilitates data-sharing between different law enforcement agencies. Flock 的萨凡纳视频以对时任警察少校 Robert Gavin 的采访为核心，他称赞了 Flock 如何促进不同执法机构之间的数据共享。
“We spent a lot of time doing community talks about what we’re gonna use them for, what we’re not gonna use them for,” Gavin says, adding that the overall objective is to “keep everybody safe.” “我们花了很多时间进行社区宣讲，说明我们将把这些设备用于何处，以及不会用于何处，”Gavin 说，并补充道，总体目标是“确保每个人的安全”。
On July 31, Savannah police mayor Van Johnson wrote in a Facebook post that the allegations involving the six employees had been referred to the GBI to determine whether criminal charges should be filed. 7 月 31 日，萨凡纳市长 Van Johnson 在 Facebook 上发文称，涉及这六名员工的指控已移交至佐治亚州调查局（GBI），以确定是否应提起刑事指控。
The Savannah Police Department did not respond for comment. The GBI confirmed that it investigated the incidents in Savannah and Albany, but didn’t provide information, noting that the Savannah investigation is “still active.” 萨凡纳警察局未回应置评请求。佐治亚州调查局证实已调查萨凡纳和奥尔巴尼的事件，但未提供具体信息，并指出萨凡纳的调查“仍在进行中”。
According to Johnson, the Savannah Police Department conducted an internal investigation through the Flock Safety Audit Assistance Program, which Flock introduced in April. In a press release announcing the tool, Flock said it “continuously monitors system activity and surfaces search patterns that fall outside an agency’s typical usage.” Savannah police chief Lenny Gunther told a local news outlet that the investigation surfaced 127 inappropriate searches out of the 39,000 it conducted this year. 据 Johnson 称，萨凡纳警察局通过 Flock 在 4 月推出的“Flock 安全审计援助计划”进行了内部调查。在宣布该工具的新闻稿中，Flock 表示它“持续监控系统活动，并呈现出超出机构典型使用范围的搜索模式”。萨凡纳警察局局长 Lenny Gunther 告诉当地媒体，调查发现今年进行的 39,000 次搜索中，有 127 次是不当搜索。
“Public trust is non-negotiable,” Johnson said in his Facebook statement. “These tools exist to keep our community safe, not for personal or unauthorized use.” “公众信任是不容妥协的，”Johnson 在其 Facebook 声明中表示。“这些工具的存在是为了保障我们社区的安全，而不是用于个人或未经授权的用途。”
In 2020, Flock posted a video by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution about the Sandy Springs Police Department’s arrest of a porch pirate. The video did not feature any interviews with Sandy Springs Police Department personnel, but noted that the man was arrested after a Flock camera captured the license plate of the suspect. 2020 年，Flock 发布了一段由《亚特兰大宪法报》制作的视频，内容关于桑迪斯普林斯警察局逮捕一名“门廊海盗”。视频中没有采访任何桑迪斯普林斯警察局的人员，但指出该男子是在 Flock 摄像头捕捉到嫌疑人车牌后被捕的。
About five years later, the Sandy Springs Police Department launched an internal investigation into whether one of its officers had misused Flock’s technology. According to investigators, the officer allegedly ran ALPR searches to support beta testing for Signal 8, a law enforcement s… 大约五年后，桑迪斯普林斯警察局启动了一项内部调查，以确定其一名警官是否滥用了 Flock 的技术。据调查人员称，该警官涉嫌运行 ALPR 搜索，以支持执法软件 Signal 8 的 Beta 测试……