ELI5: Can you find out if police searched your license plate with Flock cameras?

Most of the time, you cannot easily find out if the police searched for your car using Flock cameras, but you can sometimes find out by making an official public records request.

Imagine the Flock camera network is like a neighborhood bird watcher with a magical camera. Every time a car drives by, the camera snaps a picture of the license plate and writes down the time, color, and make of the car in a giant digital notebook.

Here is how the system works in everyday life:

• Automatic checking: The camera constantly looks at cars to see if any are on a hotlist, which is a special list of stolen vehicles or cars tied to serious crimes. If your car is not on that list, the camera just saves the photo quietly in the notebook.
• Police searches: If a crime happens nearby, a police officer can type your plate number into the notebook to see if your car passed by the scene.
• No notifications: The system works like a private search engine for officers; it will never send a text or an alert to your phone to tell you that someone looked up your plate.

• Submit a request: You must file a public records request (sometimes called a FOIA request) with your local police department.
• Ask for the audit logs: You ask the department for their audit trail or search history linked to your specific license plate.
• Wait for review: The police will check if they can share that information. If your plate was searched as part of an active, secret criminal investigation, they will likely deny your request.