Police tout Flock's crime-fighting results in Florida

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(The Center Square) – Amid privacy concerns and reports of misuse, law enforcement officials in Florida are highlighting the positives they have seen come from using the AI-powered Flock camera system.

In Jacksonville, Flock’s License Plate Readers, or LPRs, have helped solve 15 murders, 17 kidnappings, six forcible sex offenses, nearly 100 shootings, and 172 missing-persons cases since 2024, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.

In a recent case, an LPR helped the department find a teenage girl who had been kidnapped from her home in Georgia and brought to a motel in Jacksonville where officers were able to get her to safety, the sheriff’s department said.

In another case, an LPR helped investigators locate suspects after a corrections officer was killed at a truck stop. The suspects were in custody within 48 hours.

“When someone you love is in danger, you want us to have every responsible tool available to help find them and solve the crime,” the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. “We currently have 141 fixed LPRs and 9 mobile LPRs across Duval County. We also understand that LPRs can raise questions and concerns. That’s why their use is tied to legitimate law-enforcement purposes, monitored, and audited. If someone misuses the system, we will address it. Our goal is to use technology responsibly to help keep our community safe while maintaining accountability and trust.”

The LPRs use AI to analyze images of all passing vehicles and store the information in a searchable database.

Flock Chief Strategy Officer Rahul Sidhu said this week one of the reasons people see more stories about Flock catching misuse of its database is because of how well their auditing system works.

“Flock is the only police database with the level of auditing that it has,” Sidhu said. “Bad cops who misuse Flock are likely misusing other police databases that have very little auditing. We want to make it law: all databases have our level of auditing plus punishments must be severe.”

Sidhu argued if other companies had Flock’s level of auditing there would be more stories about cops abusing other systems as well.

Jacksonville isn’t the only place in Florida where law enforcement officials are saying Flock is making a difference. Earlier this month, Lake City Police Chief Gerald Butler told the city council he has observed reduced crime after installing the cameras.

“The Flock system along with other law enforcement techniques have contributed to significantly reducing the amount of gun violence in this city,” said Butler.