Flock Error Leads to False Arrest
A car reviewer was mistakenly detained by police due to a Flock system error, which misread his vehicle's license plate as stolen.
Key points
- Joel Feder, Director of Content and Product at The Drive, was detained by police for an hour due to a mistaken identity.
- The Flock system misread the New Jersey manufacturer plate on Feder's $155,000 loaner Range Rover as stolen.
- The error occurred because the system only read the larger numbers and letters on the plate, disregarding the smaller '10' font.
- A missing plate with a similar character sequence, 34 03 DTM, had been reported stolen in California, triggering a nationwide alert.
- The LAPD police report only listed '34 DTM', further compounding the reporting error and leading to the false arrest.
A data entry error in Flock's system led to the mistaken detention of a car reviewer. Joel Feder, Director of Content and Product at The Drive, was driving a $155,000 loaner Range Rover when he was surrounded by police cars in a parking lot. The officers claimed that the car's plate had been reported stolen and that they had been tracking him for days using the Flock app. However, it was later discovered that the system had misread the New Jersey manufacturer plate on Feder's vehicle. The plate, which read '34 10 DTM' with the number '10' written in smaller font, was mistaken for a similar plate that had been reported stolen in California. The Flock system's error was compounded by its inability to read the smaller font on the plate, leading to the false arrest. The incident highlights the potential risks of relying on automated systems for law enforcement.
Sources
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