Flock Safety has developed an artificial intelligence tool called OS Investigate that enables law enforcement to identify drivers and track vehicles based on movement patterns—a capability that contradicts the company's prior public statements that its technology "cannot recognize, identify, or track individuals."
The system leverages Flock's camera network across more than 6,000 communities. It can identify potential witnesses by analyzing how often their cars pass through a specific neighborhood and pinpoint a driver's "associates" by observing which vehicles consistently pass cameras together. The system integrates with police case files, 911 dispatch logs, and commercial identity records, converting license plate information into names, home addresses, and relatives.
WIRED discovered more than 450 files on Flock's website detailing the AI's capabilities. The files describe 45 distinct tools, providing access to plate scans, camera metadata, arrest records, case files, dispatch logs, ballistics results, and commercial databases containing Social Security numbers, dates of birth, phone numbers, email addresses, and details on relatives and associates.
Flock originally built its business on a simpler model: cameras photographed passing cars, converted license plates to text, and checked them against lists of vehicles police were actively seeking. OS Investigate represents a fundamental shift. An officer no longer needs a specific license plate, name, or crime to begin a search. Instead, they can input a location, timeframe, and behavioral pattern, and the system returns individuals matching those criteria. The tool provides 69 prewritten prompts that officers can select, review, edit, or supplement with custom inputs.
Privacy and legal experts assert that Flock's existing surveillance tools already raise serious constitutional concerns by granting police broad access to extensive records of people's movements often without warrants. The new prompts intensify these concerns by enabling the system to cast suspicion on drivers based solely on driving frequency and location, regardless of whether they are wanted for a crime.
Flock states it is currently testing OS Investigate with a small group of law enforcement partners and describes it as a product still in development. The company indicated that its current capabilities may not reflect what it eventually sells to clients.
Flock Safety faces ongoing bipartisan political pressure, a documented history of officers misusing its platform, and widespread vandalism of its cameras in cities across the United States. The company's camera network has grown to include more than 120,000 cameras nationwide, forming the infrastructure for these expanded surveillance capabilities.
