Flock cameras process 20 billion vehicle reads monthly across 49 states

September 11, 2026 at 04:25 AM1 min

This digest was compiled by AI from multiple sources — links to the originals are below.

Flock's automated license plate reader network processes more than 20 billion vehicle reads each month across 49 states, according to a February 2026 company blog post. The company claims a 96% accuracy rate, which would still leave 800 million potential errors monthly. Roseville, California found its Flock system was accurate only 29% of the time.

Key Facts

Flock's network processes more than 20 billion vehicle reads each month across 49 states.
At 20 billion monthly reads, a 4% error rate equals 800 million potential mistakes per month.
Roseville, California found its Flock camera system was accurate only 29% of the time.
The 20 billion monthly reads average 157 reads per second per state.

Scale of Surveillance

Flock's automated license plate reader network processes more than 20 billion vehicle reads each month across 49 states, according to a February 2026 company blog post. That volume averages over 408 million reads per state per month. Assuming a 30-day month, the cameras capture 13.6 million photos per day in each state. Divided by 86,400 seconds per day, the rate is 157 reads per second per state on average. The figure excludes cameras from other companies such as Axon, which are replacing Flock in some locations.

Error Rate Concerns

Flock claims its ALPR network reads license plates correctly 96% of the time. At 20 billion monthly reads, the 4% error rate equates to 800 million potential nonsense traffic tickets, wrongful stolen car arrests, and dangerous police encounters every month. The town of Roseville, California found its Flock camera system was accurate only 29% of the time, a 71% failure rate. If Flock cameras nationwide had a 29% positive ID rate, that would mean 14.2 billion potential times law enforcement might stop someone over a technical error each month.