What is a Flock camera? Here’s how they work

Read our investigation into how Flock cameras and other license plate readers are used across Wareham by clicking this link.

Flock cameras and other automated license plate readers are being used across Wareham, taking photos and monitoring cars using artificial intelligence. But how exactly do these cameras work and what do they look for?

Automated license plate readers are high-speed cameras that capture pictures of license plates and other car details, like a vehicle make and model, as the car drives by a camera. The reader logs and then uploads the license plate information to a database, which can be searched by law enforcement and other operators. 

Every vehicle that passes the camera is pictured and logged. That data is saved and stored, which law enforcement can access for up to 30 days, according to Wareham’s Flock Safety transparency portal. 

According to Flock Safety, its cameras record vehicle characteristics and cannot recognize or track peoples’ faces. For the Wareham Police Department, approved officers search the cameras for wanted or stolen vehicles, missing people, AMBER Alerts and other investigations, according to its license plate reader use policy. 

Before pulling someone over based on license plate reader information, officers are required to visually verify that the plate number and state matches the one read by a license plate reader, according to department policy. They are also required to verify the plate’s status in a statewide or nationwide database like the Commonwealth’s Criminal Justice Information System “as soon as practicable.”

The police department keeps a log of its searches and license plate reader data can only be accessed, shared or retrieved for “official and legitimate law enforcement business only.”  

The cameras face heavy criticism from advocates who say the technology can be misused by police departments and threatens the public’s privacy — data sharing and retention, in particular.

Camera data can be shared with other police departments and agencies. Those users can then access and search information outside of their department without any manual approval from the department it’s requesting from.

Wareham retains data for 30 days, according to its Flock Safety Transparency Portal. This means a police department — from inside or outside of Wareham — can search vehicle information from cars passing the town’s Onset Flock camera during the last month.