Check If Flock Searched Your Plate: What NYC Drivers Should Know

NEW YORK CITY— Listen up NYC commuters!

Drivers can check whether law enforcement agencies have searched their license plates through a public database built from records requests involving Flock Safety camera systems.

The website, Have I Been Flocked, compiles Flock audit logs obtained through public-records requests. The records show when someone searched for a particular license plate in the Flock system and the stated reason for the search.

Keep in mind, this may apply only to New Jersey commuters or those who make the trip out of the City.

Flock Safety does not operate license-plate reader cameras in NYC.

The City has its own extensive network of automated license-plate readers operated by agencies including the NYPD and NYC Department of Transportation. Those cameras are separate from Flock's system.

The technology does operate on Long Island and in New Jersey.

A search in a Flock database does not necessarily mean a police officer was investigating the driver.

The database also does not show whether or when a vehicle passed a Flock camera.

Can NYC Drivers Check If The NYPD Searched Their License Plate?

Not in the same way drivers can search the Have I Been Flocked database.

The NYPD operates its own license-plate reader system through the department's Domain Awareness System, where authorized users can conduct historical searches for specific plates and review when those plates were detected by fixed or mobile readers.

The NYPD says LPR data is retained for five years.

There is no public NYPD tool that allows drivers to enter a license plate and instantly see whether an officer searched for it.

However, the NYPD's current policy states members of the public can request LPR records through New York's Freedom of Information Law, or FOIL.

Requests must be submitted in writing, and the department states it will review them under applicable disclosure laws.

For drivers who want to try, NYPD FOIL requests can be submitted through NYC OpenRecords.

A request should be as specific as possible about the records being sought, including a date range and any other information that could help locate the records.

Keep in mind that a FOIL request is not a guaranteed way to obtain every search involving a particular plate; records can be withheld or redacted under exemptions in the law.

What Does A Listing Mean?

If a license plate appears in the database, an operator searched for that plate through Flock's application or website, according to the site's organizers.

Those operators are not necessarily police officers. Other authorized law enforcement personnel can access Flock systems.

The stated reason for each search also appears in the audit records when that information is available.

For New Yorkers, however, a plate appearing in the Flock database would reflect a search of Flock's system somewhere outside New York City.

How Complete Is The Database?

The database draws on public-records requests sent to 6,586 agencies nationwide.

But the records do not provide a complete picture of every Flock search.

“The dataset is incomplete; few governments provide easy access to these logs, and the records we obtain are often redacted,” the website reads.

That means a license plate not appearing in the database does not necessarily mean it was never searched through Flock.

What Is Flock Safety?

Flock Safety operates more than 120,000 AI-powered cameras nationwide, according to the company.

Its cameras use artificial intelligence to capture vehicle information from public spaces, including license plates and vehicle characteristics. Police departments and local governments can use the systems to search vehicle data.

Flock has faced growing scrutiny over how law enforcement agencies use its technology.

The company recently announced new auditing requirements and a reduction in the default retention period for license-plate data from 30 days to seven days.