Hunting the wrong people: Police abandon license plate recognition system

Automatic number plate recognition systems should help the police find stolen cars faster. In Los Angeles, however, the technology has led to dozens of false prosecutions and contract terminations. Flock Safety systems are actively used in the USA for automatic license plate recognition (ALPR). The technology is configured to send real-time alerts to the police if the camera captures a license plate hotlisted as stolen.

Reason for rejection

The Los Angeles Police Department has announced the termination of its contract with the vendor following an extensive audit of ALPR technology. During the two-month study period, 161 cases of false positives were identified, prompting police to pursue people whose vehicles were falsely identified as stolen by the system.

Main complaints about the ALPR system

• Creating an unreasonable danger: false alarms are often interpreted by the police as high-risk situations.
• Risk of confrontation: When receiving a false report, officers often call for reinforcements and air support, forcing citizens to comply with the protocols of apprehension of criminals.
• Violation of citizens’ rights: such mistakes undermine trust in law enforcement agencies and create legal risks for the agency.

Effectiveness of the system against the background of errors

Despite technical failures, the system demonstrated positive results. During the reporting period, with the help of Flock, the police managed to recover 337 stolen vehicles and make 74 legal arrests. Experts note that many errors were the result of a lack of coordination between various law enforcement departments and delays in removing previously found cars from the database.

Developer position

Representatives of the Flock company said that they hope to continue cooperation, arguing that the current failures are due to “incorrect interpretations”. However, inspectors are pushing for a mandatory review of the relationship, increased oversight of data access and a ban on new contracts pending a full audit.