Flock Safety tightens leash on police use of license-plate readers

Amid a wave of alleged police misuse of Flock Safety’s license-plate reader network, the company announced new safeguards: every search must have a stated reason and case code with the offense type; audit-assistance becomes mandatory; officers are locked out in real time pending review; data retention drops to seven days (except for ongoing cases); and cross-department access can be restricted. The update aims to curb abuse while preserving public-safety benefits like solving missing-persons and theft cases, though privacy advocates remain wary.