Reconstructed code from Flock's login pages reveals OS Investigate, a new AI system that integrates license plate scans, arrest records, case files, and more
Flock's surveillance cameras have already sparked outrage. WIRED reconstructed its next-generation AI system, already in use by some police …
Wired
Context & Ripple Effects
Flock’s earlier nationwide AI license-plate camera network established the data-collection layer; OS Investigate moves the company toward an investigative interface that combines those scans with arrest records and case files. The shift arrives after scrutiny of Flock’s installed readers over security flaws and police misuse and bipartisan pressure over its data-handling and cybersecurity practices.
First-order effects
Police agencies already using OS Investigate gain a single AI-powered system for working across Flock license-plate scans, arrest records, and case files.
Flock expands its role from supplying surveillance-camera infrastructure to providing software used in the investigative workflow.
Second-order effects
Flock’s procurement and deployment practices face sharper scrutiny because data-handling concerns now attach not only to camera networks but also to a system that brings multiple investigative records together.
Automatic-license-plate-recognition rivals such as Rekor must compete against a more integrated Flock offering as local governments evaluate tools that claim to identify suspicious movement patterns.
Third-order effects
If police adoption broadens, public-safety AI governance will increasingly turn on how agencies authorize, audit, and constrain cross-database investigative systems rather than on camera deployment alone.
The pattern points to a surveillance market organized around integrated data and investigation platforms, with the safeguards around access and misuse becoming a central procurement issue.
The trend: Flock’s OS Investigate is one data point in the shift from standalone AI surveillance sensors to integrated police investigation platforms.
Incredible scoop from @dmehro.bsky.social and @dell.bsky.social who were able to recreate Flock's new AI-powered tool that lets police officers ID drivers and track vehicles—capabilities the company has repeatedly said it doesn't allow. — www.wired.com/story/flock-...
NEW: Flock has said for years its cameras don't identify or track people. — We obtained the code for its police AI and rebuilt parts of it. — The tool can find witnesses, surface associates, search people by race or physical description, and flag vehicles by how they move. —…
SCOOP: Flock has built a new AI system—an early version of which is already in use—fusing input from its cameras with police and commercial databases. It allows users to search for people in an area drawn on a map based on a physical description. @dmehro.bsky.social and @dell.bs…
NEW: Flock has said for years that its cameras “cannot track individuals.” We found the code for its new AI tool. It's preloaded w/ prompts like “Find me witness” & “find relatives.” — One tracks visitors of multiple hotels, another if you visit banks after midnight. — www.…
Flock really is building/has built the infrastructure for authoritarianism. The massive pushback they are experiencing right now is because people recognize this fact. www.wired.com/story/flock-... [image]
“I don't know how else to say this, but this sounds completely insane. I don't know how anyone can argue against the idea that Flock literally tracks people.”
Flock has told the public for years that its technology “cannot recognize, identify, or track individuals.” — The company has now built an AI system that does both. And @wired.com got the system's code — allowing us to reconstruct it, and learn exactly how Flock's new tool is …