No User, Only a Subject: Chatrie Tests Meet Plate Readers
A draft article by Orin Kerr maps three Chatrie tests. When applied to ALPR, they kill real-time crime centers.
By H.C. van Pelt2026-08-06
Policy & Legal
Filings, opinions, and other legal matters.
17 posts
Flock is Literally on Fire
The company faces severe backlash and more and more cameras are being cut down and destroyed. Two cameras in Georgia caught fire; it's being investigated as arson, but will that be enough?
By H.C. van Pelt2026-07-24
Flock Blames Bad Data While Blowing Past Every Guardrail
Two journalists were stopped over a partial plate in an NCIC hotlist. Flock calls it a feature; the NCIC operating manual calls it a violation.
By H.C. van Pelt2026-07-20
Flock Would Rather Jail Cops Than Turn Off the Cameras
Flock credits its AI-powered "Audit Assistance" tool for a wave of officer arrests — press releases included. Exposing abuse after the fact isn't a fix; it's what keeps the surveillance sellable.
By H.C. van Pelt2026-07-18
The Chatrie Decision and ALPR
Yesterday's Supreme Court decision "will send seismic waves through our Fourth Amendment doctrine," according to Justice Alito's dissent. It could.
By H.C. van Pelt2026-06-30
Sixteen States and DC File Fourth Circuit Brief in Support of Norfolk's Surveillance
Sixteen states argue that if one license-plate scan is legal, a city-wide surveillance network must be too.
By H.C. van Pelt2026-06-29
Flock Calls ALPR Information "Wholly Irrelevant" to Lawsuit About Policy on ALPR Information
Flock's system captures over 130 data fields. In court, Flock calls them "wholly irrelevant" to a lawsuit about whether it ever disclosed collecting them.
By H.C. van Pelt2026-06-03
Under Construction: California Class Action Lawsuits
While the existing Flock suits move toward consolidation, a new one drops; this time against The Home Depot and its "gravely dangerous" use of ALPRs.
By H.C. van Pelt2026-05-02
No Permit, No Problem: California Governor Hopeful Chad Bianco's 500+ Unauthorized Surveillance Cameras
Riverside County issued three encroachment permits for 500+ Flock surveillance cameras to the wrong permittee and based on incomplete applications. Then it let them lapse for over a year. Bianco and Flock continued to operate them.
By H.C. van Pelt2026-03-30
File, Dismiss, Sue, Repeat: The Case for Dismantling Iowa's Public Information Board
The Iowa Public Information Board was created to resolve disputes and enforce transparency. In nearly 14 years, it hasn't.
By H.C. van Pelt2026-03-18
The Bill That Hides the Evidence
Iowa's proposed ALPR bill was copied from Virginia's. Virginia proved it doesn't work.
By H.C. van Pelt2026-03-08
Consumer Data Protection: California Plus, Compliance Minus
Flock's boilerplate denial doesn't survive the statute it claims to follow.
By H.C. van Pelt2026-03-07
All the Attorney General's Men: As Transparent as a One-Way Mirror
How a complaint to Iowa's AG about Coralville's unenforceable ALPR policy forced a choice—and revealed the AG's selective relationship with transparency.
By H.C. van Pelt2026-02-24
Two Tales of Real-World Flock Abuse
Two Georgia police officers face stalking charges after audit tools flagged repeated searches of the same plates. Flock's response: remove names from audit logs.
By H.C. van Pelt2026-01-08
Two Colorado cities abandon Flock oversight
Denver operates Flock cameras without a finalized contract. Boulder admits it won't audit search logs. Colorado's open records laws make oversight nearly impossible.
By H.C. van Pelt2026-01-07
"Official Police Business Only" Now Covers City Planning
The dropdown says more than the contract does.
By H.C. van Pelt2025-12-22
The Flock Camera Data Does Not Enable an Individual to "Infer"
Courtesy of Flock's lawyers in Schmidt v. Norfolk.
By Have I Been Flocked Team2025-11-02