Newsletter Subscribe
Enter your email address below and subscribe to our newsletter
Flock Camera Misreads One Letter, Family Held at Gunpoint With Six Week Old Baby in SUV
Share your love
Flock Camera Misreads One Letter, Family Held at Gunpoint With Six Week Old Baby in SUV
A recently surfaced body camera video is raising new concerns about Flock Safety cameras after an innocent Arkansas family was subjected to a high risk traffic stop because a camera allegedly misread a single letter on their license plate.
The incident happened February 11 in Sherwood, Arkansas, after police received a Flock Safety alert identifying a black Chevrolet Tahoe as having a stolen license plate. The system reportedly identified the plate as APX55Y, but the family’s actual plate was APX55X.
That one letter was enough to set everything in motion.
Body camera footage shows an officer positioned behind his cruiser with his gun drawn as he ordered the driver to put his hands up, exit the vehicle and walk backward toward officers. The confused driver complied and was detained while trying to explain that the vehicle belonged to him and that he had the registration to prove it.
When officers asked who else was inside the SUV, the driver explained that his girlfriend and children were inside, including a baby approximately six weeks old. Another officer arrived and also drew his firearm before the woman was ordered from the vehicle and detained.
Eventually, officers went back to verify the information and discovered the problem. The plate associated with the stolen vehicle ended in Y. The family’s plate ended in X.
The family’s vehicle wasn’t stolen. Their license plate wasn’t stolen. They had simply been caught in a Flock alert that identified the wrong plate.
The officer’s own incident report makes the situation even more concerning. According to the report, the officer received the Flock alert and reviewed the license plate image before initiating the stop, believing it showed the plate associated with the stolen vehicle. The actual plate, however, was still one letter different.
The Sherwood Police Department later acknowledged the incident and said the officer involved had recently been released from training and subsequently received additional training involving the Flock system. The department also said officers are not supposed to initiate traffic stops based solely on information provided by Flock cameras.
Flock Safety cameras have continued expanding across communities throughout the country, including here in Louisiana, with supporters pointing to their ability to help locate stolen vehicles and identify vehicles connected to serious crimes. But the technology has also faced increasing scrutiny over privacy, data sharing and what happens when automated systems get something wrong.
This case shows exactly why those concerns matter.
Nobody inside that Tahoe had stolen a vehicle. Nobody was fleeing from police. Nobody had committed the crime that triggered the alert. Yet an innocent family, including a six week old baby, found themselves in the middle of a high risk police encounter because one letter was wrong.
Technology can be an incredible tool for law enforcement, but technology isn’t infallible. When a camera makes a mistake, the consequences aren’t limited to an incorrect entry on a computer screen.
In this case, the consequences were guns drawn, parents detained and an innocent family treated like felony suspects.
And that’s exactly why the debate surrounding Flock cameras shouldn’t simply be about whether they catch criminals. It should also be about what protections are in place for innocent people when they get it wrong.
Trending Now
- 1Update: Power has been restored.
- 2Northshore Community Mourns Loss of Respected Realtor Yvette Catoire Sehon
- 3Louisiana Sheriff Warns Parents About Threatening “Cat In The Hat” TikTok Reel
- 4Louisiana Sheriff Warns Parents About Threatening “Cat In The Hat” TikTok Reel
- 5Louisiana Sheriff Warns Parents About Threatening “Cat In The Hat” TikTok Reel