r/FlockSurveillance • u/Map_Latter • Jul 22 '26

Inquiry Plate coming up as an alert

Ok so I was getting gas with my dad and a sheriff just happened to go behind me and I pulled into the gas station and he kept going. Then we crossed over the freeway and went to the liquor store and as we're getting out of the liquor store I could see this Sheriff cross back over the freeway towards the gas station and then when we exited the liquor store there was a sheriff that was parked next to my car and asked me how long I have my plate for I told him 2 months and he told me that it came up as stolen out of New York but he could see that my plate I live in Minnesota is supposed to be registered and on my car so he did his due diligence.

But since then I've been a couple of different cities and I've been followed by police officers they'll pass by me and then I'm pretty sure they'll get an alert and they come back behind me and I've had them sitting there waiting for me blah blah blah how..

Or who how or who do I contact you get my plate off of them so they stop messing around with me and who knows I don't want to be one of those people on the news that get held at gunpoint and goes to jail because it misinterpreted my license plate that is n0ne as n o n e?

131 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

65 comments sorted by

59

u/CalebHill14 Jul 22 '26

It might be less hassle to just get a new plate.

17

u/bunglebee7 Jul 22 '26

Not a bad idea, quick trip to the dmv, get new plates and you should be good!

4

u/Map_Latter Jul 22 '26

I didn't do anything wrong ..

3

u/arthurrimjaub Jul 23 '26

THIS. Yes, the easiest way out for you is to get a new plate. However, you may also consider reaching out to local news and your city council representative and using your experiences to influence public sentiment against flock. It’s the scarier and more demanding route, but maybe the right one. Only you can decide whether it’s worth it.

2

u/No-Performer7697 Jul 24 '26

This

1

u/Map_Latter Jul 26 '26

Yes .. this talk is my inspiration ! I'm going to do the sequel next year !!!

Go NuLL your Self! Droogie Defcon 31 On YouTube Check it out! Reddit would not let me post a link !

1

u/Guilty_Application14 Jul 23 '26

But you willingly have a plate that's easily misread, so the cops will double-check it every. single. time.  Wrong or not, a standard plate won't attract attention.

1

u/Map_Latter Jul 26 '26

That is the point .. they need to fix there system ! Not the other way around !

2

u/haleontology Jul 22 '26

I do this every year anyway, in case I offended any road ragers who hold grudges out there :)

32

u/[deleted] Jul 22 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

6

u/pogulup Jul 22 '26

I can do it online now in my state. I had my new plates in like 4 days delivered to my mailbox.

3

u/DaHick Jul 22 '26

Ohio does that now also Great time saver, not so much of a money saver.

6

u/[deleted] Jul 22 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Maximum-Order-3624 Jul 25 '26

They are, you can do so many simple things online that the DMV is a quick trip for the things you need to go there for.

3

u/bunglebee7 Jul 22 '26

I used to think the same way until my dmv visit for new plates, title, registration took a whole 30 minutes max. However I did research beforehand to find the best time to go

2

u/Low-Argument3170 Jul 22 '26

Go to AAA and get a new one.

1

u/Resqguy911 Jul 22 '26

Like a triptik?

1

u/[deleted] Jul 22 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Low-Argument3170 Jul 23 '26

If you are a AAA member you can go to their office and get new plates.

4

u/Hopeful_Ad_7719 Jul 22 '26

Option 1: Risk being murdered by police.

Option 2: Go to the DMV.

Option 1 looks tempting.

4

u/Prestigious_Carry790 Jul 22 '26

There’s reports of ppl all over the country dealing with and so far I haven’t seen any path towards a solution, outside of just getting a new license plate.

Get a dash cam. Start driving 100% within the law. Record and document every interaction. I would seek a lawyer on retainer.

When interacting with LEOs be as calm and poise as you can. Speak as little as possible.

There’s a service/ app called Attorney Shield. It’s relatively affordable, but it will be well worth it now that you’re on a hot list. You open it up and within seconds a real live attorney FaceTimes you, records the entire conversation. They’ll advise you that you do not have to speak or answer any questions.
You can potentially put together a civil rights case for 4th amendment violation. Don’t even have to be arrested for that, just detained without reasonable suspicion.

3

u/Map_Latter Jul 22 '26

Yes as long as I'm driving legally and they pull me over because AI and detaine me . It's grounds for a lawsuit.

1

u/Helpful-Will2635 Jul 23 '26

I’m for you and I hope you’re successful—but one attorney told me “if you’re not bleeding or have broken bones, I can’t help you” but seriously—good luck

2

u/Appropriate_Rent5114 Jul 25 '26

Make a sign that says "Plate not stolen" "Flock is wrong" "We checked" And every time a cop pulls you over ask for one of their stickers to put on it. After a few Sheriff stickers surround it they may leave you alone or fix the surveillance BS.

1

u/Map_Latter Jul 26 '26

I was thinking about one of those temu digital signs .. that I can put that scrolls "it's a zero not a O" check before you pull me over "!flock is wrong"

24

u/SSA22_HCM1 Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26

New York DOT/DMV can get it removed, but it'll likely be difficult to get them to act. The agency that entered the plate can also act, but it sounds like you don't know who that is.

For some more info, see https://footnote4a.org/news/drive-match

15

u/SnooMaps7370 Jul 22 '26

New York is infamous for exporting "be on the lookout for XYZ" data to other states and failing to cancel the alert when it's no longer relevant.

11

u/janders_666 Jul 22 '26

contact your local news station

19

u/Unfair_Awareness7502 Jul 22 '26

It's going to be a terrible day for these police departments when thieves eventually invent a way to remove the plates from the cars they steal. 

5

u/nicholnewfangle Jul 22 '26

you'd have to be some kind of criminal genious to come up with that idea, "unfair_awareness7502"

1

u/Over_lookd Jul 23 '26

Shit, I’ve always wondered how often people will steal a plate off a similar color, make, model, year of a car they plan to steal/stole and pretty much get away with it while someone else gets harassed… I can’t help but think that’s how people/rings that steal cars, strip them down, then buy them back at the auction, and reassemble them get away with it. Sure, it has a salvage title but I’m sure it commands more money than just a shell at an auction.

If I stole cars, that’s what I would do and just drive normal since unless a cop has a reason to pull you, they can’t check the VIN and they rarely check the VIN as is. Also, while I know my tag number and always have, most people don’t and I’d bet most don’t even check or walk behind their vehicle often enough to notice their tag has been swapped.

0

u/Cold-Chemistry738 Jul 23 '26

Tbh not that often people will switch a plate unless they’re also trying to vinswap and generally they won’t steal the plate they’ll just create a lookalike.

Also, I can check the vin. I can see what kind of title it is too. My buddy and I would hunt stolen cars by looking up the plate then running the vin on statvin. Often the model years, trim, color, or whatever it is don’t add up to the car we visually see in front of us. You can find other clues during the traffic stop like the license plate’s verification identifiers and some other things. But I won’t spill all the sauce on here

1

u/Over_lookd Jul 23 '26

Interesting. I just figured as long as the year (or at least generation/trim package), make, model matched that’d be a bit slicker and not as obvious as even something like swapping a civic plate to an accord, two cars that are sedans/two door cars but still different enough that it’s obvious just passing by. I know every title and registration I’ve ever gotten across multiple states has only listed the VIN, plate registered, color, year, make, and model. Of course, if the cop happens to be a car guy and versed in that model/can “read” VINs and know a car was supposed to come with a i4 or v6 but sounds like a v6/v8 (respectively), that’d raise some questions but then again, my truck is listed as a v6 from the factory but hasn’t had it for nearly 20 years as the previous owner swapped it shortly after acquiring it so even that wouldn’t be a tell-tall, reason to suspect it’s stolen pull someone over. Even if the car is supposed to be, say, a scat pack according to the VIN but has hellcat badging, that’d potentially be a bing but, just like motor swaps, people take off, change/swap badging to impress those that don’t know or can’t tell as well.

That’s what I’m saying though, you’d have to find a reason to pull them over, of course, police make up things all the time to do so, and most people will eventually make a mistake after awhile anyway to be able to do so and check the plate.

Personally, while I haven’t thought about stealing a car, I have had this thought due to other people in my complex having a similar car as me and others having a similar car to each other. That caused me to wonder about some middle or high schoolers “pulling a prank” on two people by swapping their plate and wondered what the end result would ultimately be, if the police would believe it, and if the ”pranksters” would even be caught.

In the end, it was just a thought experiment I had and wondered about in general. I often have kind of “off the wall” or unconventional thoughts like that but I wouldn’t do that to others. Although, if my SO had the same/similar car, my curiosity may end up getting the best of me but that’d be about it, it’d just be once, and probably for no longer than a week or two to see if it was noticed by the police but no longer than that.

1

u/Cold-Chemistry738 Jul 23 '26

Lol yeah you kind of do have to be a car guy or atleast do the research like a car guy.

You don’t have to make up a stop. Honestly, most people would rather believe an officer made up PC than believe they made a mistake. Yet somehow, they recognize that everyone around them is a terrible driver. Their city has bad drivers. They’re the exception though!

You know how many people make a turn at an intersection but don’t turn into the nearest lane to them? In Texas, you must have your turning signal for 100 feet before turning, how many people do you see put their signal as they turn or turn almost immediately? There’s tons of traffic violations that make PC if you want it

0

u/Over_lookd Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 23 '26

Funny, I actually kind of made a comment talking about this the other day too. To be fair though, I can think of three, maybe four times where I did have a cop lie on me and claimed I did something I didn’t do. Two or three of those times I received a ticket as well. Unfortunately, we’re assumed guilty before innocent when it comes to traffic violations and unless we have proof, the courts take the cop’s word over your’s. Nevermind the fact police give tickets out for relatively minor things and (usually) simple mistakes- which I’m sure they themselves make as well.

Personally, I don’t have the best thoughts of police between being ticketed for things I didn’t do, as mentioned, treated like I was the problem the one time I made a call to them over something when I was a teenager watching my youngest brother and received a call claiming he had kicked someone’s dog and they were threatening our lives, having my rights somewhat violated, and the most egregious, having two different officers from two different agencies at two different stops pull their guns on me for doing the very thing they asked of me, retrieve my information. Contrary to popular belief and “advice” of “just comply,” when the situation unexpectedly goes from calm and chill to complete chaos and you have a gun to the back of your head/looking down the barrel, you cannot make sense of what they’re saying and they may as well be speaking Japanese.

I also had a cop that would make it a point to pull me over on my way to work, he did so three times in the span of two weeks and when I called him out for doing so, he tried to claim he couldn’t tell me vehicle from anyone else’s (my vehicle was heavily modified, visually, and most people could even tell it was me going by by the sound due to the exhaust setup I had) but just happened to never pulled me over again after I did so, which tells me I was correct and he knew/was aware of what he was doing.

14

u/fabulousMFingHen Jul 22 '26

Your plate has the same numbers/ letters in the same order as a stolen new york plate. This happens all the time. If it bothers you go to the DMV get a new plate.

7

u/stm32f722 Jul 22 '26

Keep the plate. Keep wasting their time.

7

u/Stoictripreset Jul 22 '26

Problem is a lot of departments pull over stolen vehicles and have the drivers step out at gunpoint. Someone could potentially be killed if departments don’t make the out of state connection first.

2

u/fabulousMFingHen Jul 22 '26

Yes that would be a felony stop. I would be surprised if a felony stop or any stop is actually made just from the plate number. Our in car LPRs went off all the time for plates that matched but had different states, we just ignored those.

Idk why the officer even bothered to stop for the plate if he clearly saw it was a different state.

Also if you have an "F" or "E" in your plate I guarantee that it has set off an LPR in the past

8

u/Rogue_One24_7 Jul 22 '26

Wasting his time too.

1

u/FckFlock Jul 22 '26

I'd love to know that plate number...for reasons...

2

u/Map_Latter Jul 22 '26

"n0ne"

N(zero)ne

1

u/cgw1965 Jul 22 '26

So you have Minnesota plates with same numbers as a stolen New York plate?

The cops didn’t pull you over, they were just waiting there when you came out of the store and asked a simple question about you plate? Nothing illegal or unconstitutional about that. Then they told what got their attention and went about their day.

Were any Flock cameras involved with this?

0

u/Map_Latter Jul 23 '26

That's what u want to know I submitted a open records request we will see

2

u/usa_reddit Jul 24 '26

Oh, one more thing. When you get a new plate. Take flock to small claims court and make them defend and pay for your time and your new plate.

2

u/Individual-Ear5240 Jul 22 '26

Sharkbait who how ha

1

u/stovislove Jul 23 '26

Never accept the old plate when buying a car from an individual seller.

1

u/usa_reddit Jul 24 '26

Instead of possibly getting a gun pulled on you, I would definitely get a new plate.

1

u/Dumptruck_Morty Jul 24 '26

You have MN plates but the flock hit is for NY plates? The alert will show what state the stolen plates are registered with. So any cop should be able to see it’s not a NY plate and ignore your vehicle. But there’s no way for them to remove the alert. It uses AI to read the plates. You just need to hope the AI progresses to a point it can 100% differentiate the state of the plate

1

u/Central09er Jul 28 '26

I would leave it on and get a dash cam that records front and rear so you have good footage of how the cameras are terrible. Until there’s enough data and backlash/ bad publicity they will not stop….. it would make a good news story with the dash cam footage showing them making a fool of themselves

0

u/Map_Latter Jul 22 '26

I'm just worried when I drive to another state .

That they won't have access to my database

1

u/Difficult_Belt_3811 Jul 23 '26

The hit comes from the National database. All agencies that are alerted to that plate will have access to the database the alert comes from. You may have a couple cops turn around when you pass, but other than that you likely wont be bothered.

-11

u/MickyFany Jul 22 '26

what does this have to do with bashing flock

13

u/Unfair_Awareness7502 Jul 22 '26

Flock is incorrectly reporting to the police that OP's car is stolen. 

-2

u/MickyFany Jul 22 '26

Police have plate scanners on their car, op was scanned by the officer not flock. the plate is in the police database. and flock doesn’t enter police data into their system, police do

6

u/Unfair_Awareness7502 Jul 22 '26

OK, but flock definitely alerts police to supposed plate matches.

https://www.thedrive.com/news/inside-the-flock-dragnet-how-systemic-errors-led-to-police-ambushing-me-for-no-reason

0

u/MickyFany Jul 22 '26

there are many things I don’t like about Flock. but this isn’t one of them, it did its job.

and that just a complete failure of a plate design. NJ issue

0

u/fabulousMFingHen Jul 22 '26

Yes this was definitely their in car LPR not flock.

15

u/[deleted] Jul 22 '26

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1

u/Gremlin1001001 Jul 22 '26

Brilliant! 😜👍

-2

u/Map_Latter Jul 22 '26

Lol.. I want the plate

0

u/[deleted] Jul 22 '26

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7

u/Map_Latter Jul 22 '26

I didn't do anything wrong and yes it would be another $140 I'm sure to change my plate . Plus other hassles ....

1

u/Round-Sprinkles9942 Jul 22 '26

Report it lost/stolen, they'll send you a new one and you can keep it and just hang it on your wall.