1. United States
2. Calif.
3. Letter

An Institute for Justice review of media reports and court records finds there have been at least 27 documented cases of wrongful police stops based on Flock camera errors since 2018, with the majority occurring since 2023. Innocent people have been detained at gunpoint after cameras misread digits—including cases where a camera misread an “O” as a “0,” an “7” as a “2,” and instances where couples with young children were pulled over at gunpoint due to misidentifications. A 23-year-old woman was arrested in April 2026 and charged with multiple counts of leaving the scene of a crash after a Flock camera misidentified her vehicle in a hit-and-run case. A Colorado woman reported having to prove her innocence after police accused her of package theft based on a Flock misidentification, stating: “It became my job to prove my innocence. And I thought it was supposed to be the other way around.” If Flock cameras remain in use, they must be accompanied by substantial financial penalties against both Flock Safety and police departments when mistakes occur, with full compensation mandated for misidentified victims. Congress should introduce legislation establishing this liability framework immediately.