What Are Flock Cameras? How Flock Safety License Plate Readers Actually Work
If you have driven through a neighborhood, shopping center, apartment complex, or city street and noticed a small camera mounted near the roadway, there is a chance you have seen a Flock Safety camera.
Flock cameras have become increasingly common across the United States, particularly among law enforcement agencies, businesses, schools, homeowners associations, apartment communities, and property managers.
At the same time, there is often confusion about exactly what these cameras are, what information they collect, and how the technology actually works.
The most recognizable Flock Safety cameras are a form of automated license plate recognition, commonly referred to as ALPR, automatic license plate recognition, or simply license plate readers.
Unlike a traditional security camera that may continuously record everything happening within its field of view, a dedicated license plate reader is primarily designed to detect vehicles, capture images as they pass a particular location, identify visible vehicle characteristics, and turn those observations into searchable information.
Here is how the technology works.
What Is a Flock Camera?
Flock Safety manufactures several types of security and public-safety technology, including license plate readers, video surveillance systems, gunshot detection equipment, and related software.
However, when most people use the term "Flock camera," they are referring specifically to the company's roadside automated license plate recognition cameras.
A Flock license plate reader is designed to capture vehicles as they pass through a camera's field of view and create a digital record of that observation.
Depending on the quality of the image and the capabilities of the system, that observation may contain information such as:
License plate number
License plate state
Vehicle make
Vehicle model or body style
Vehicle color
Date and time
Camera location
Visible vehicle characteristics
Temporary or partial plate information
The key difference between this and conventional video surveillance is that the information is automatically organized so that it can later be searched.
How Does a Flock Camera Work?
At a basic level, a Flock license plate reader follows a relatively simple process.
Vehicle passes the camera → camera captures images → software analyzes the vehicle and plate → information is stored → authorized users can search the observation.
There are several different technologies working together to make this possible.
1. A Vehicle Enters the Camera's Field of View
Flock license plate readers are generally positioned where vehicles naturally pass through a predictable area.
Common installation locations can include:
Roadways
Neighborhood entrances
Parking lot entrances and exits
Commercial properties
Apartment communities
School campuses
Business entrances
Municipal road networks
As a vehicle passes through the camera's field of view, the system captures images of the vehicle.
This is different from requiring someone to manually watch hours of recorded surveillance footage looking for a particular car.
The system is designed to recognize a vehicle event as it happens and create a searchable observation from it.
2. The Camera Captures the Vehicle and License Plate
The first part of any automated license plate recognition system is still a camera.
The camera must capture a usable image of the vehicle and, when visible, its license plate.
The effectiveness of that image can depend on several factors, including:
Camera placement
Vehicle speed
Distance
Lighting
Weather
Viewing angle
Plate condition
Obstructions
Image quality
Once the image has been captured, software begins analyzing what is visible.
This is where a Flock camera becomes more than simply another surveillance camera.
3. Software Attempts to Read the License Plate
A photograph of a license plate is useful to a person looking at it.
For a computer to search thousands or millions of vehicle observations efficiently, however, the characters on the plate need to be converted into digital information.
Automated license plate recognition systems traditionally use a process similar to optical character recognition, commonly called OCR.
For example, imagine the camera captures a Nevada license plate displaying:
ABC123
The system analyzes the image and attempts to determine that the characters shown in the photograph are:
A-B-C-1-2-3
That information can then be stored as searchable data alongside the original image.
Instead of an investigator manually reviewing thousands of photographs, the software can search the database for observations associated with that plate number.
4. The System Can Analyze the Vehicle Itself
A license plate is not the only information that can be useful when identifying a vehicle.
Modern automated vehicle recognition systems can also analyze visible characteristics of the vehicle itself.
Depending on system capabilities and image quality, searchable characteristics may include information such as:
Vehicle color
Vehicle make
Vehicle type
Body style
License plate state
Temporary plates
Partial plates
Missing plates
Roof racks
Trailers
Toolboxes
Other visible vehicle characteristics
This becomes particularly useful when the complete license plate number is unknown.
For example, imagine an investigator knows that a vehicle associated with an incident was:
A dark-colored pickup truck with a roof rack traveling through a particular area between 8:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.
Searching vehicle characteristics may help narrow the available observations even when a complete license plate was never captured by a witness.
5. The Observation Receives a Date, Time, and Location
The system also records contextual information about where and when the vehicle was observed.
A typical vehicle observation could effectively contain information similar to:
Vehicle: White Ford F-150
License Plate: ABC123
State: Nevada
Time: 8:42 p.m.
Location: Camera Location A
That information creates a record showing that a vehicle matching those characteristics was observed at a particular location at a particular time.
It is important to understand what that information does — and does not — establish.
A vehicle observation does not automatically determine:
Who was driving
Who owned the vehicle at that moment
Who was inside the vehicle
Why the vehicle was at the location
Whether the vehicle was involved in criminal activity
The system records a vehicle observation.
The interpretation of that observation occurs separately.
6. Information Is Transmitted to a Cloud-Based System
One of the reasons license plate readers can be deployed in locations where traditional security infrastructure may be difficult to install is connectivity.
Some Flock camera installations can operate using cellular communication rather than requiring a conventional hardwired network connection.
Many installations can also use solar and battery power.
That allows cameras to potentially be installed without running extensive electrical and network cabling to every location.
After an observation is captured and processed, information is transmitted to cloud-based infrastructure.
Authorized users can then access the information through Flock's software platform instead of physically retrieving footage from the camera itself.
Flock states that information transmitted through its system is encrypted during transmission and while stored within its cloud environment.
7. Vehicle Observations Become Searchable
This is arguably the biggest practical difference between automated license plate recognition and conventional video surveillance.
Imagine an incident occurs at a shopping center.
With a traditional camera system, an investigator may have to:
Determine which camera covered the location.
Determine the approximate time of the incident.
Open recorded video.
Review the footage.
Identify the vehicle.
Attempt to read the license plate manually.
Search additional cameras for the same vehicle.
Automated license plate recognition changes that workflow.
An authorized user may instead be able to search available vehicle observations using information such as:
Full license plate
Partial license plate
Vehicle color
Vehicle make
Vehicle type
Date
Time range
Camera location
Other visible vehicle characteristics
The system can then return observations matching those search criteria.
This does not necessarily mean that every returned result is the vehicle being sought.
The results still have to be reviewed and evaluated.
The technology primarily makes large amounts of vehicle information easier to organize and search.
How Do Flock Camera Alerts Work?
Flock systems can also generate alerts when a vehicle matches information contained within an authorized vehicle list.
These are often referred to as hot lists.
Instead of waiting for someone to manually search for a vehicle after an incident, the system can automatically compare incoming license plate observations against certain lists.
Depending on the organization, legal authority, system configuration, and circumstances, these lists may include vehicles associated with situations such as:
Stolen vehicles
AMBER Alerts
Missing or endangered persons
Wanted vehicles
Investigative vehicle alerts
If the system detects what it believes may be a matching plate, an alert can be generated for an authorized user.
The important technical distinction is that an alert is a potential match.
It does not mean that the camera itself has determined that a crime occurred.
License plate information and the associated vehicle generally still need to be independently verified.
Do Flock Cameras Use Facial Recognition?
Flock states that its dedicated automated license plate recognition cameras do not use facial recognition technology.
The license plate reader system is primarily designed around information associated with vehicles.
That can include:
License plates
Vehicle images
Vehicle characteristics
Date
Time
Camera location
It is therefore important to distinguish between vehicle recognition and facial recognition.
They are not the same technology.
Flock Safety also offers products beyond roadside license plate readers, including other types of cameras and security technology. The capabilities of those systems should not automatically be assumed to be identical to a dedicated ALPR camera.
Can a Flock Camera Tell Who Is Driving?
A license plate reader identifies a vehicle observation.
It does not automatically identify the driver.
For example, a system may determine that:
Nevada plate ABC123 was observed at a particular intersection at 3:17 p.m.
That does not automatically establish who was operating the vehicle at 3:17 p.m.
Vehicles can be:
Driven by their registered owners
Driven by family members
Loaned to another person
Rented
Sold
Used by employees
Stolen
Determining who was actually operating a vehicle requires information beyond the license plate observation itself.
Are Flock Camera Reads Always Accurate?
No automated camera or recognition system should be assumed to be perfect.
License plate recognition technology can encounter challenges caused by things such as:
Dirty plates
Damaged plates
Obstructed plates
Temporary plates
Unusual plate designs
Weather
Darkness
Glare
Poor viewing angles
Vehicle speed
Image quality
Similar-looking letters and numbers
Characters such as:
O and 0
or
B and 8
can potentially create interpretation problems depending on the plate design and image quality.
This is one reason automated license plate recognition information should generally be independently reviewed rather than treated as unquestionable evidence simply because it was generated by a computer.
The technology can dramatically improve the speed at which vehicle observations are located, but human verification remains important.
How Long Does Flock Store License Plate Data?
Data retention depends on the particular deployment, customer policy, system configuration, and applicable laws.
Historically, many Flock deployments used a 30-day retention period.
More recently, Flock announced a shift toward a seven-day recommended/default retention period for new ALPR deployments, while also providing methods for specific evidence associated with an active investigation to be preserved.
Existing systems may still operate under different retention policies.
As a result, there is not one universal answer that applies to every Flock camera in the country.
A particular system may retain data according to:
Flock's default settings
Local agency policy
State law
Municipal policy
Contract requirements
Customer-defined retention rules
Anyone trying to determine the retention period of a specific camera network would need to examine the policy governing that particular deployment.
Who Can Access Flock Camera Data?
Access also depends on who owns or operates the system.
Flock technology is used by both public and private organizations.
These may include:
Police departments
Sheriff's offices
Municipal governments
Retail businesses
Commercial properties
Apartment communities
Homeowners associations
Schools
Universities
Organizations can establish accounts and permissions controlling who is authorized to access their camera information.
Flock states that searches performed through its law-enforcement platform are logged for auditing purposes.
Organizations may also establish agreements allowing information to be shared with other authorized organizations.
This means understanding a particular Flock camera network involves more than simply identifying the hardware.
The policies surrounding access, retention, searching, and sharing are also important parts of how the overall system operates.
Flock Cameras vs. Traditional Security Cameras
Although both technologies involve cameras, they are designed to solve somewhat different problems.
Traditional Security Cameras
A traditional surveillance camera primarily provides visual coverage of an area.
The system may record:
People
Vehicles
Activity
Entrances
Parking lots
Buildings
Incidents
Investigators generally locate the appropriate camera and review recorded footage.
Automated License Plate Readers
A license plate reader is primarily designed to convert passing vehicles into structured, searchable observations.
Instead of only producing video, the system attempts to create information such as:
Vehicle + License Plate + Characteristics + Location + Time
That structured information allows a large number of vehicle observations to be searched much faster than someone manually reviewing equivalent amounts of surveillance footage.
Neither technology universally replaces the other.
A conventional camera provides broader visual context.
A license plate reader provides specialized vehicle identification and search capabilities.
In many security environments, the two technologies can serve different purposes.
Are Flock Cameras the Same as Red-Light Cameras?
No.
Although both may be installed near roadways, the technologies are designed for different purposes.
A red-light camera or automated traffic enforcement system is generally intended to document a specific traffic violation.
For example:
A vehicle enters an intersection after the traffic signal turns red.
A license plate recognition system is primarily designed to identify and organize vehicle observations.
It may record that:
A particular vehicle was observed at a particular location at a particular time.
The presence of a vehicle alone does not necessarily indicate that any traffic violation occurred.
Can Flock Cameras Track a Vehicle?
This question requires an important distinction.
An individual Flock camera does not physically follow a vehicle as it moves.
Instead, each camera can record an observation when a vehicle passes through that particular camera's field of view.
If multiple cameras observe the same vehicle at different locations, those observations can potentially create a series of location and time records.
For example:
Camera A — 2:05 p.m.
Camera B — 2:18 p.m.
Camera C — 2:31 p.m.
Searching multiple observations may therefore provide information about where and when a vehicle was detected.
That is different from a camera continuously tracking the vehicle every moment along its route.
What Does ALPR Mean?
ALPR generally stands for Automated License Plate Recognition or Automatic License Plate Recognition.
Other common terms include:
LPR
License Plate Recognition
License Plate Reader
Automated License Plate Reader
Automatic Number Plate Recognition
The terminology can vary, but the underlying concept is similar.
A camera captures a vehicle and license plate, software interprets the image, and the resulting information becomes searchable.
So, What Does a Flock Camera Actually Do?
At its core, the technology is relatively straightforward.
A vehicle passes a camera.
The camera captures images of the vehicle.
Software attempts to read the license plate.
The system analyzes visible vehicle characteristics.
The observation receives a date, time, and location.
The information is uploaded and indexed.
Authorized users can search those observations.
The system may also compare incoming plates against authorized vehicle lists and generate alerts when a potential match occurs.
That is the basic technology behind a Flock Safety automated license plate reader.
The larger questions surrounding license plate recognition usually involve where the cameras are installed, who can access the information, how long that information is retained, and how organizations choose to use it.
From a purely technical perspective, Flock's license plate recognition system can be understood as a combination of:
Camera hardware + vehicle recognition software + license plate recognition + connectivity + cloud storage + searchable databases + automated alerts.
Together, those technologies turn vehicles passing specific locations into searchable vehicle observations.
Frequently Asked Questions About Flock Cameras
What does a Flock camera capture?
A Flock license plate reader primarily captures vehicle images, license plate information, visible vehicle characteristics, the date and time of the observation, and the camera location.
Do Flock cameras record every car?
A camera is designed to capture vehicles passing through its field of view, but whether an individual vehicle is successfully captured and classified depends on factors such as camera placement, visibility, weather, vehicle speed, image quality, and obstructions.
Do Flock cameras record video?
Flock sells both license plate recognition products and conventional video surveillance products. Its dedicated roadside license plate readers are primarily designed around vehicle observations and still images rather than functioning exactly like a traditional continuously recording surveillance camera.
Can Flock cameras read temporary license plates?
Modern license plate recognition systems can attempt to capture temporary plates, partial plates, and other plate configurations. Results depend on visibility and image quality.
Can Flock cameras identify a vehicle without a license plate?
Depending on what the camera captures, vehicle characteristics such as color, make, type, body style, or distinguishing features may still provide searchable information even if a complete license plate is unavailable.
Can a Flock camera identify the driver?
A dedicated license plate reader identifies vehicle-related information. A plate observation by itself does not establish the identity of the person driving the vehicle.
Are Flock cameras facial recognition cameras?
Flock states that its dedicated license plate recognition system does not use facial recognition technology.
Are Flock cameras red-light cameras?
No. Automated traffic enforcement cameras and automated license plate readers are designed for different purposes. Flock's LPR system is primarily designed around vehicle identification, searches, alerts, and investigative information.
How long is Flock camera data stored?
Retention periods vary depending on the deployment, customer policy, system configuration, and applicable law. Flock has recently moved toward a seven-day recommended/default retention period for new ALPR deployments, while some existing deployments may operate under different retention policies.
Sources and Further Reading
Flock Safety — License Plate Reader Technology
https://www.flocksafety.com/products/license-plate-readers
Flock Safety — Data Privacy and Security
https://www.flocksafety.com/trust/data-privacy
Flock Safety — Frequently Asked Questions
https://www.flocksafety.com/faq
National Institute of Justice — License Plate Recognition Systems
https://nij.ojp.gov/library/publications/license-plate-recognition-systems-lprs-function-performance-and-considerations
International Association of Chiefs of Police — Automated License Plate Recognition
https://www.theiacp.org/projects/automated-license-plate-recognition