A technical analysis of client-side code exposed on Flock Safety's login portals has revealed OS Investigate, an unannounced artificial intelligence platform designed to track individuals and analyze vehicular travel patterns across police departments nationwide. The findings, first reported by WIRED and verified by independent security researchers, detail an AI-driven investigative system that links automated license plate reader (ALPR) networks with police databases and commercial records.
Flock Safety's surveillance infrastructure currently operates across more than 6,000 communities in the United States. While the company has historically stated that its cameras only capture vehicle license plates rather than tracking individual people, the reconstructed codebase demonstrates direct capabilities for individual identification, behavioral profiling, and associate mapping.
Pre-Configured AI Prompts and Data Tooling
The exposed application files detail 45 specialized data tools and 69 pre-written AI prompts available to law enforcement users. Rather than querying single license plates associated with active warrants, OS Investigate enables open-ended behavioral queries that cross-reference:
- Plate read timestamps and camera geographic coordinates
- 911 dispatch calls, arrest records, and incident case files
- Integrated ballistics test results
- Commercial identity databases containing Social Security numbers, dates of birth, telephone numbers, known addresses, and family relations
Behavioral Pattern Queries and Automated Dossiers
The system architecture marks an inversion of traditional license plate reader workflows. Instead of checking observed plates against static hotlists, the AI tool allows investigators to query movement patterns without specifying a suspect, vehicle plate, or active crime.
Pre-loaded prompts in the codebase include:
- Witness and Frequency Discovery: Automated searches identifying vehicles most frequently recorded in a specific neighborhood during specified time windows, excluding whitelisted residents.
- Associate Mapping: Algorithms that identify co-traveling vehicles by calculating camera pass timestamps within two-minute windows, surfacing top associates based on a 0.75 confidence threshold.
- Pattern-of-Life Tracking: Filters detecting vehicles visiting multiple retail stores, banks, or gas stations across distinct municipal jurisdictions within defined multi-day windows.
- Automated Individual Workups: One-command dossier generation combining local arrest histories, calls for service, and commercial identity records to rank and profile top individuals in a designated geographic area.
Flock spokesperson Paris Lewbel confirmed that OS Investigate is currently in pilot testing with select law enforcement partners, stating that features and workflows remain subject to revision before any broader commercial deployment.
